NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 7-ranked and No. 2-seeded LSU Tigers wrapped up Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA New Haven Regional in 10th place overall in the 14-team regional field after posting their team score of 14-over par 294 on the first day of the three-day, 54-hole championship being held at The Course at Yale this weekend.
With senior All-American Ben Taylor and sophomore All-SEC performer Brandon Pierce leading the way with scores of 3-over par 73, the Tigers ended the day 13 shots off the overall lead and eight shots from the Top 5 of the team leaderboard for qualification into the field for the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships.
No. 3-seeded and No. 16-ranked South Florida grabbed the first-round lead with an opening score of 1-over 281, followed by No. 9-seeded Ohio State one shot back in second place with a score of 2-over 282.
Rounding out the five qualifying positions for the NCAA Championship are No. 6-seeded San Diego State with a score of 4-over par 284 for third place, No. 1-seeded and No. 5-ranked Vanderbilt with its round of 5-over par 285 for fourth place and No. 4-seeded and No. 20-ranked Oklahoma State with an opening score of 6-over par 286 for fifth place as the Top 5 teams overall.
Taylor carded three bogeys in his round and Pierce added one birdie with two bogeys and one double bogey in his round to finish up Thursday’s action with matching 3-over 73s to wrap up the afternoon in a tie for 30th place individually. Along with Pierce, senior Stewart Jolly, junior Zach Wright and sophomore Eric Ricard are each playing their first event since picking up Second-Team All-SEC honors for the 2014-15 season, and each is tied for 39th place overall after posting matching rounds of 4-over par 74 in the opening round.
South Florida’s Rigel Fernandes fired his team into the lead with an impressive score of 6-under par 64 to open up this year’s NCAA New Haven Regional. Fernandes will tee off Friday with a four-shot lead over the duo of Ohio State’s Clark Engle and Nortwestern’s Dylan Wu, who each follow in a tie for second place with scores of 2-under par 68. Wu is competing at The Course at Yale this weekend as an individual.
Vanderbilt’s SEC Player of the Year Matthias Schwab wrapped up Thursday’s round five shots back in fourth place with a 1-under 69, while seven golfers tied for fifth place with even-par rounds of 70 on the day.
The SEC Champion LSU Tigers will look to bounce back Friday to position themselves for NCAA Championships qualification for the fifth time in six seasons dating back to the 2010 spring season. LSU has qualified for the field at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships in each of the last two seasons in 2013 and 2014 after also advancing in 2010 and 2011 under head coach Chuck Winstead.
The Tigers are paired with No. 5 seed Arkansas and No. 12 seed College of Charleston for Friday’s second round at the NCAA New Haven Regional as they will tee off in the second wave going off the back nine with tee times beginning at 7:55 a.m. CT on the 10th tee. Golfstat will provide live scoring during the second and third rounds of the championship as fans can follow the Tigers in action at http://golfstat.com.
NCAA NEW HAVEN REGIONAL – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 280)
1. South Florida 281 +1; 2. Ohio State 282 +2; 3. San Diego State 284 +4; 4. Vanderbilt 285 +5; 5. Oklahoma State 286 +6; T6. Troy 289 +9; T6. NC State 289 +9; T8. Iowa 291 +11; T8. North Texas 291 +11; 10. LSU 294 +14; 11. Arkansas 301 +21; 12. College of Charleston 303 +23; 13. Robert Morris 305 +25; 14. St. Peter’s 307 +27.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 70)
1. Rigel Fernandes, South Florida, 64 -6; T2. Clark Engle, Ohio State, 68 -2; T2. Dylan Wu, Northwestern, 68 -2; 4. Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt, 69 -1; T5. Riccardo Michelini, San Diego State, 70 E; T5. Hunter Stewart, Vanderbilt, 69 -1; T5. Zachary Olsen, Oklahoma State, 70 E; T5. Kolton Crawford, Arkansas, 70 E; T5. Xander Schauffele, San Diego State, 70 E; T5. Tolver Dozier, Troy, 70 E; T5. Brandon Matthews, Temple, 70 E.
LSU SCORES
T30. Brandon Pierce, 73 +3
T30. Ben Taylor, 73 +3
T39. Stewart Jolly, 74 +4
T39. Eric Ricard, 74 +4
T39. Zach Wright, 74 +4