BATON ROUGE – The reigning SEC and NCAA champion LSU Tigers are ready to kick off their 2016 spring season this week with a with a trip to PGA West in La Quinta, California, to compete as part of the 14-team field at the 16th-annual Prestige at PGA West beginning with Monday’s opening round at the Greg Norman Course.
Tee times during the three-day, 54-hole championship are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT in Monday’s first round, Tuesday’s second round and Wednesday’s final round at the Greg Norman Course.
With Stanford and UC-Davis serving as co-hosts of the event, this year’s Prestige at PGA West returns to the Greg Norman Course after being played at PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course a season ago. That is where the Tigers tied for fourth place to kick start a 2015 spring season that culminated with a sweep of SEC and NCAA championships in a campaign to remember.
In fact, the Tigers have placed fourth in each of their two appearances all-time at The Prestige at PGA West as they broke par with a score of 6-under par 846 in their debut in 2014 before firing a team score of 21-under par 843 at the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course last year. LSU’s tournament score of 21-under 843 in last year’s event set a school record for 54 holes.
The Tigers enter the 2016 spring season as the No. 27-ranked team nationally by Golfstat following a fall season highlighted by their first victory of the season at the David Toms Intercollegiate in Baton Rouge.
LSU joins a 14-team field at the 16th-annual Prestige at PGA West that also includes five programs ranked among the nation’s Top 25 teams in the Golfstat men’s power rankings to start the spring season. Among those competing this week are No. 5-ranked Stanford, No. 6-ranked Duke, No. 7-ranked Southern California, No. 10-ranked Arizona State and No. 25-ranked San Diego State along with East Tennessee State, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, UC-Davis and the University of Stirling.
The Sun Devils of Arizona State are the defending tournament champions after firing a winning score of 31-under par 833 in three days of competition a year ago. Stanford All-American Maverick McNealy is also joining the field in defense of his 2015 individual title as he fired a winning 11-under 205 to take home medalist honors in last year’s spring opener.
LSU is paired with Southern California and Stirling University in Monday’s opening round and will tee off from the front nine beginning at 11:10 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring of the tournament throughout its entirety as fan can follow the Tigers in action at http://www.golfstat.com.
Two Tigers make their return to PGA West after leading the team to a tie for fourth place a season ago as junior All-Americans Brandon Pierce and Eric Ricard both cracked the Top 10 of the final leaderboard.
While making his sophomore debut for the Tigers at last year’s Prestige at PGA West, Pierce shot a 7-under 209 for three rounds to finish in a tie for 10th place in the event. It was the first of three top-10 and seven top-20 finishes in Pierce’s eight appearances last spring as he went on to set LSU’s single-season scoring record of 71.16 stroke per round and earn Third-Team All-American honors from Golfweek.
Ricard also jump started his All-American sophomore campaign last spring by tying for seventh place in the event with a final score of 9-under par 207, including a 6-under 66 in the final round to help the Tigers fire their second-lowest team round in school history. Ricard earned the third of his team-leading four top-10 finishes en route to claiming PING Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Ricard has already been crowned a tournament champion for the first time in his collegiate career this season with a resounding victory at the David Toms Intercollegiate where he fired a 10-under 206 in 54 holes.
Joining Pierce and Ricard in the lineup this week will be LSU’s top three scorers from the fall season as senior All-American Zach Wright and freshmen standouts Sam Burns and Nathan Jeansonne round out the team to make the trip to PGA West. Jeansonne is the team’s top scorer with a 71.50 stroke average in two appearances, while Burns follows third on the team with a 73.50 stroke average in four starts for his rookie season.
Wright, who tied for 43rd place in his first and only appearance for the Tigers at the Prestige at PGA West two seasons ago, ended the fall season as LSU’s second-leading scorer with a 72.07 scoring average in five starts while leading the team with two top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Wright is riding a wave of momentum into the 2016 spring season after performing well in recent amateur events following the end of the fall campaign as he tied for second place at the 41st Sun Bowl Western Refining All-America Golf Classic in El Paso, Texas, back in November and tied for seventh place at the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational in St. Simons Island, Georgia, last weekend.
After opening up their 2016 spring season at The Prestige at PGA West this week, the Tigers will follow with a return trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to compete at this year’s Querencia Cabo Collegiate that is set to run from Feb. 28-March 1 at Querencia Golf Club. Golfstat will feature live scoring of The Prestige at PGA West as fans can follow the Tigers in action in the event by logging on to http://www.golfstat.com.
BATON ROUGE – The reigning SEC and NCAA champion LSU Tigers are ready to kick off their 2016 spring season this week with a with a trip to PGA West in La Quinta, California, to compete as part of the 14-team field at the 16th-annual Prestige at PGA West beginning with Monday’s opening round at the Greg Norman Course.
Tee times during the three-day, 54-hole championship are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT in Monday’s first round, Tuesday’s second round and Wednesday’s final round at the Greg Norman Course.
With Stanford and UC-Davis serving as co-hosts of the event, this year’s Prestige at PGA West returns to the Greg Norman Course after being played at PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course a season ago. That is where the Tigers tied for fourth place to kick start a 2015 spring season that culminated with a sweep of SEC and NCAA championships in a campaign to remember.
In fact, the Tigers have placed fourth in each of their two appearances all-time at The Prestige at PGA West as they broke par with a score of 6-under par 846 in their debut in 2014 before firing a team score of 21-under par 843 at the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course last year. LSU’s tournament score of 21-under 843 in last year’s event set a school record for 54 holes.
The Tigers enter the 2016 spring season as the No. 27-ranked team nationally by Golfstat following a fall season highlighted by their first victory of the season at the David Toms Intercollegiate in Baton Rouge.
LSU joins a 14-team field at the 16th-annual Prestige at PGA West that also includes five programs ranked among the nation’s Top 25 teams in the Golfstat men’s power rankings to start the spring season. Among those competing this week are No. 5-ranked Stanford, No. 6-ranked Duke, No. 7-ranked Southern California, No. 10-ranked Arizona State and No. 25-ranked San Diego State along with East Tennessee State, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, UC-Davis and the University of Stirling.
The Sun Devils of Arizona State are the defending tournament champions after firing a winning score of 31-under par 833 in three days of competition a year ago. Stanford All-American Maverick McNealy is also joining the field in defense of his 2015 individual title as he fired a winning 11-under 205 to take home medalist honors in last year’s spring opener.
LSU is paired with Southern California and Stirling University in Monday’s opening round and will tee off from the front nine beginning at 11:10 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring of the tournament throughout its entirety as fan can follow the Tigers in action at http://www.golfstat.com.
Two Tigers make their return to PGA West after leading the team to a tie for fourth place a season ago as junior All-Americans Brandon Pierce and Eric Ricard both cracked the Top 10 of the final leaderboard.
While making his sophomore debut for the Tigers at last year’s Prestige at PGA West, Pierce shot a 7-under 209 for three rounds to finish in a tie for 10th place in the event. It was the first of three top-10 and seven top-20 finishes in Pierce’s eight appearances last spring as he went on to set LSU’s single-season scoring record of 71.16 stroke per round and earn Third-Team All-American honors from Golfweek.
Ricard also jump started his All-American sophomore campaign last spring by tying for seventh place in the event with a final score of 9-under par 207, including a 6-under 66 in the final round to help the Tigers fire their second-lowest team round in school history. Ricard earned the third of his team-leading four top-10 finishes en route to claiming PING Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Ricard has already been crowned a tournament champion for the first time in his collegiate career this season with a resounding victory at the David Toms Intercollegiate where he fired a 10-under 206 in 54 holes.
Joining Pierce and Ricard in the lineup this week will be LSU’s top three scorers from the fall season as senior All-American Zach Wright and freshmen standouts Sam Burns and Nathan Jeansonne round out the team to make the trip to PGA West. Jeansonne is the team’s top scorer with a 71.50 stroke average in two appearances, while Burns follows third on the team with a 73.50 stroke average in four starts for his rookie season.
Wright, who tied for 43rd place in his first and only appearance for the Tigers at the Prestige at PGA West two seasons ago, ended the fall season as LSU’s second-leading scorer with a 72.07 scoring average in five starts while leading the team with two top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Wright is riding a wave of momentum into the 2016 spring season after performing well in recent amateur events following the end of the fall campaign as he tied for second place at the 41st Sun Bowl Western Refining All-America Golf Classic in El Paso, Texas, back in November and tied for seventh place at the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational in St. Simons Island, Georgia, last weekend.
After opening up their 2016 spring season at The Prestige at PGA West this week, the Tigers will follow with a return trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to compete at this year’s Querencia Cabo Collegiate that is set to run from Feb. 28-March 1 at Querencia Golf Club. Golfstat will feature live scoring of The Prestige at PGA West as fans can follow the Tigers in action in the event by logging on to http://www.golfstat.com.