CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – Junior All-American Eric Ricard fired the lowest round of the tournament for the LSU Tigers with a 2-under par 69 in Monday’s second round at Querencia Golf Club to lead the team two spots up the standings and into a tie for 12th place overall with just one round to play at this year’s Querencia Cabo Collegiate.
The Tigers, who teed off Monday morning in 14th place overall following their 11-over par 295 on Sunday, slashed six shots off their first-round score with a 5-over par 289 in the second round to finish the day tied with No. 2-ranked Wake Forest at 16-over par 584 for the championship.
Ricard was the only Tiger to break par in the second round as he carded three birdies and just one bogey for a stellar round of 2-under 69 to climb 20 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for 45th place overall.
Ricard wrote five-straight pars on his scorecard to start the round after teeing off from hole No. 18 in Monday’s shotgun start, and quickly dropped to 2-under par for his round with back-to-back birdies at the par-four fifth and sixth holes. He then dipped to 3-under par with his third birdie of the day at the par-four 10th hole before giving away his only shot of the round with a bogey at the par-four 16th hole.
After teeing off in a tie for 65th place following his opening-round 7-over 78, he ended the day in a tie for 45th place with freshman teammate Sam Burns at 5-over 147 after 36 holes. Burns posted a score of 4-over 71 on the day after opening the tournament with the team’s second-lowest round on Sunday with a 1-over 72.
Senior All-American Zach Wright, who started his week by firing a team-low 1-under 70 to tie for 16th place in the first round, followed with a 2-over 73 to finish the day in a tie for 25th place individually at 1-over par 143. Junior All-American Brandon Pierce and freshman standout Nathan Jeansonne tied one another for 58th place at 8-over 150 after 36 holes as Jeansonne carded a 2-over 73 and Pierce posted a 3-over 74.
The Georgia Bulldogs recorded the lowest team round of the week with their 16-under par 268 in Monday’s action to overtake South Florida for an eight-shot lead in the team standings with a blistering 19-under 549 in two rounds of competition at Querencia Golf Club. The Bulls remained in contention with a score of 11-under 557 for second place, while Baylor and Stanford finished the day in a tie for third place overall at 4-under 564 and California rounded out the Top 5 of the team standings in fifth place at 2-under 566.
Arkansas’ Taylor Moore and South Florida’s Aksel Olsen will tee off in the final round tied at the top of the leaderboard at 7-under par 135 after Olsen fired a 4-under 67 and Moore added a 3-under 68 on the day. First-round leader Mario Carmona of Rice followed his 5-under 66 on Sunday with a 2-over 73 on Monday to drop into a tie for ninth place overall.
The Tigers are paired with Arkansas, Oregon State and Washington in Tuesday’s final round as foursomes will tee off from holes Nos. 10-14 with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring for the final round as fans can follow online at http://golfstat.com.
QUERENCIA CABO COLLEGIATE – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. Georgia 281-268 – 549 -19; 2. South Florida 274-283 – 557 -11; T3. Stanford 286-278 – 564 -4; T3. Baylor 275-289 – 564 -4; 5. California 281-285 – 566 -2; T6. Florida State 284-285 – 569 +1; T6. Vanderbilt 294-275 – 569 +1; 8. Ole Miss 292-282 – 574 +6; 9. Oregon State 287-289 – 576 +8; 10. Arkansas 291-286 – 577 +9; 11. Washington 285-294 – 579 +11; T12. LSU 295-289 – 584 +16; T12. Wake Forest 294-290 – 584 +16; 14. Houston 292-294 – 586 +18; 15. Rice 296-298 – 594 +26.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
T1. Taylor Moore, Arkansas, 67-68 – 135 -7; T1. Aksel Olsen, South Florida, 68-67 – 135 -7; 3. Sepp Straka, Georgia, 71-65 – 136 -6; T4. Lee McCoy, Georgia, 69-68 – 137 -5; T4. Chase Koepka, South Florida, 69-68 – 137 -5; T6. Greyson Sigg, Georgia, 70-68 – 138 -4; T6. Collin Morikawa, California, 70-68 – 138 -4; T6. Zach Healy, Georgia, 71-67 – 138 -4; T9. Mario Carmona, Rice, 66-73 – 139 -3; T9. Rowin Cowan, Florida State, 69-70 – 139 -3; T9. Viraat Badhwar, Stanford, 69-70 – 139 -3.
LSU SCORES
T25. Zach Wright, 70-73 – 143 +1
T45. Sam Burns, 72-75 – 147 +5
T45. Eric Ricard, 78-69 – 147 +5
T58. Brandon Pierce, 76-74 – 150 +8
T58. Nathan Jeansonne, 77-73 – 150 +8