NEW HAVEN, Conn. – With senior All-American and All-SEC performer Stewart Jolly leading the way with a 1-under par 69, the No. 7-ranked and No. 2-seeded LSU Tigers ended Friday’s second round at The Course at Yale with a team score of 7-over par 287 to remain in 10th place in the team standings at the NCAA New Haven Regional.
Jolly, who opened the championship with a round of 4-over 74 on Thursday, wrapped up the day on the cusp of the Top 20 as he moved into a tie for 21st place overall at 3-over 143 for 36 holes.
After posting a team score of 14-over par 294 in the opening round, the Tigers slashed their total in half with a 7-over par 287 in Friday’s second round to finish the afternoon alone in 10th place at 21-over par 581 for the NCAA New Haven Regional. They will tee off in Saturday’s final round looking to erase an 11-shot deficit separating them from a top-five team finish and NCAA Championships qualification.
No. 16-ranked and No. 3-seeded South Florida has jumped out to a commanding nine-shot lead in the team title race thanks to a team score of 4-under par 276 in Friday’s action. The Bulls lead No. 8-seeded NC State in the team race with a 36-hole score of 3-under par 557. The Wolfpack were the only other team to break par on the day, firing a 3-under 277 to move into second place overall at 6-over par 566 for the weekend.
Rounding out the Top 5 of the team standings in the current NCAA qualifying positions are No. 5-ranked and No. 1-seeded Vanderbilt and No. 6-seeded San Diego State in a tie for third place with matching efforts of 7-over par 567 and No. 20-ranked and No. 4-seeded Oklahoma State alone in fifth place with a score of 10-over par 570 through two rounds.
The Tigers (581) are also currently separated from the NCAA qualifying positions by No. 7 seed Iowa (571), No. 9 seed Ohio State (573), No. 11 seed North Texas (573) and No. 10 seed Troy (578) in the team race.
Jolly carded four birdies and three bogeys on his round to lead the Tigers in the second round at the NCAA New Haven Regional. After teeing off from the 10th tee, Jolly turned at even-par for his round with two birdies at the par-four 14th and par-five 18th holes and a pair of bogeys at the par-four 11th and par-five 16th holes on the back nine. He then dipped into red figures for the first time after making a birdie on the par-four second, before trading shots with a bogey at the par-four fourth hole and a birdie at the par-four eighth hole.
Jolly is poised to improve on his best career regional finish while making his fourth NCAA Regional start as an LSU Tiger after tying for 14th place at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional as a sophomore in 2013 and in tying for 21st place at the NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional as a junior a year ago to highlight a Third-Team All-America and First-Team All-SEC campaign in 2014.
Sophomore All-SEC performer Eric Ricard posted a score of 2-over 72, while senior All-American Ben Taylor and sophomore All-SEC selection Brandon Pierce each added counting scores of 3-over 73 to help pace LSU on the afternoon. It’s a trio that finished off the second round in a tie for 36th place on the leaderboard with matching 36-hole scores of 6-over par 146 for the weekend.
Junior All-SEC performer Zach Wright rounded out the lineup on Friday afternoon with a round of 8-over 78 to finish the day in a tie for 64th place overall at 12-over par 152 at the NCAA New Haven Regional.
Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge stormed to the finish line with a blistering round of 8-under par 62 on the day to overtake South Florida’s first-round leader Rigel Fernandes by a single shot to claim the 36-hole lead at 6-under par 134 heading into Saturday’s final round. Fernandes is among those who will challenge Niebrugge for the individual title after firing a two-day total of 5-under par 135.
The Tigers are paired with No. 5-seeded Arkansas and No. 12-seeded College of Charleston in Saturday’s final round at the NCAA New Haven Regional as they will tee off in the second wave off the back nine beginning at 7:55 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring of the final round as fans can follow the Tigers in action by logging on to http://golfstat.com.
NCAA NEW HAVEN REGIONAL – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. South Florida 281-276 – 557 -3; 2. NC State 289-277 – 566 +6; T3. San Diego State 284-283 – 567 +7; T3. Vanderbilt 285-282 – 567 +7; 5. Oklahoma State 286-284 – 570 +10; 6. Iowa 291-280 – 571 +11; T7. Ohio State 282-291 – 573 +13; T7. North Texas 291-282 – 573 +13; 9. Troy 289-289 – 578 +18; 10. LSU 294-287 – 581 +21; 11. College of Charleston 303-285 – 588 +28; 12. Arkansas 301-289 – 590 +30; 13. Robert Morris 305-292 – 597 +37; 14. St. Peter’s 307-294 – 601 +41.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State, 72-62 – 134 -6; 2. Rigel Fernandes, South Florida, 64-71 – 135 -5; 3. Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt, 69-67 – 136 -4; 4. Dylan Wu, Northwestern, 68-70 – 138 -2; T5. Carter Page, NC State, 71-68 – 139 -1; T5. Tolver Dozier, Troy, 70-69 – 139 -1; T5. Brandon Matthews, Temple, 70-69 – 139 -1; T8. David Cooke, NC State, 73-67 – 140 E; T8. Carson Schaake, Iowa, 72-68 – 140 E; T8. Claudio Correa, South Florida, 73-67 – 140 E; T8. Xander Schauffele, San Diego State, 70-70 – 140 E.
LSU SCORES
T21. Stewart Jolly, 74-69 – 143 +3
T36. Eric Ricard, 74-72 – 146 +6
T36. Brandon Pierce, 73-73 – 146 +6
T36. Ben Taylor, 73-73 – 146 +6
T64. Zach Wright, 74-78 – 152 +12