PALM CITY, Fla. – Senior All-American Zach Wright finished the day just three shots off the lead in a tie for second place and freshman Luis Gagne fired back-to-back career lows to tie for eighth place while leading the 22nd-ranked LSU Tigers into second place at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational after 36 holes played Monday at Floridian Golf Club.
The Tigers wrapped up the opening day of the competition 10 shots behind Texas with a two-round total of 12-over par 580 as they followed a 2-over 286 in the morning with a 10-over 294 in the afternoon. The eighth-ranked Longhorns posted team rounds of 1-under 283 and 3-over 287 for the 36-hole lead at 2-over 570.
No. 13 Oklahoma State trailed the Tigers in third place at 15-over par 583, while Texas A&M followed in fourth place at 16-over 584 and No. 17 South Florida rounded out the Top 5 in fifth place at 17-over par 585.
In the same week in which he cracked the Top 20 of the Golfstat individual player rankings as the 18th-ranked player in college golf, Wright opened the Valspar Collegiate Invitational by firing scores of 2-under par 69 for the first round and even-par 71 for the second round to finish the day three shots off the lead at 2-under 140 for 36 holes. Texas’ Gavin Hall topped the charts at 5-under 137 in Monday’s opener.
Wright broke par in the morning while carding five birdies and three bogeys for a team-low round of 69 on the day. He then traded a bogey at the par-three fourth hole with a birdie at the par-four sixth hole to end his second round at level par for the afternoon and 2-under par for the day.
Gagne made his first start for the Tigers since their 2015-16 season opener at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic in September, and responded by carding consecutive career-low rounds of 2-over 73 and 1-under 70 to crack the Top 10 of the leaderboard after 36 holes. While writing two bogeys on his scorecard in the opening round to finish at 2-over par, Gagne gained a shot in the afternoon while recording his four birdies and three bogeys in the second round to end the day in a tie for eighth place overall at 1-over par.
Gagne is poised to smash his best finish as an LSU Tiger after he tied for 45th place in his one and only start for the program at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic in his collegiate debut in the 2015 fall opener.
Junior All-American Brandon Pierce and freshman standout Sam Burns both counted scores of 1-over par 72 in the first round and scores of 5-over par 76 and 6-over par 77, respectively, in the second round to help the Tigers finish the day in second place in the team standings. Pierce left the course Monday in a tie for 29th place at 6-over 148, while Burns followed in a tie for 35th place at 7-over 149.
Junior Eric Ricard rounded out the LSU lineup in a tie for 63rd place overall with a 36-hole score of 12-over 154 at Floridian National Golf Club, including rounds of 2-over 74 in the morning and 9-over 80 in the afternoon.
The Tigers are paired with Texas and Oklahoma State in Tuesday’s final round as they will tee off from the front nine beginning at 7:45 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring for the final round on Tuesday as fans can follow the Tigers in action at http://www.golfstat.com throughout the final 18 holes.
VALSPAR COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. Texas 283-287 – 570 +2; 2. LSU 286-294 – 580 +12; 3. Oklahoma State 295-288 – 583 +15; 4. Texas A&M 294-290 – 584 +16; 5. South Florida 296-289 – 585 +17; 6. Clemson 293-295 – 588 +20; T7. Houston 301-289 – 590 +22; T7. Illinois 295-295 – 590 +22; T9. South Carolina 294-298 – 592 +24; T9. Florida State 288-304 – 592 +24; 11. Arkansas 298-297 – 595 +27; 12. Kent State 294-302 – 596 +28; 13. Georgia Tech 307-293 – 600 +32; 14. Memphis 289-316 – 605 +37; 15. Florida 309-302 – 611 +43.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
1. Gavin Hall, Texas, 69-68 – 137 -5; T2. Zach Wright, LSU, 69-71 – 140 -2; T2. Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State, 72-68 – 140 -2; T4. Blair Hamilton, Houston, 73-68 – 141 -1; T4. Charlie Danielson, Illinois, 70-71 – 141 -1; T4. Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M, 73-68 – 141 -1; 7. Matthew NeSmith, South Carolina, 71-71 – 142 E; T8. Luis Gagne, LSU, 73-70 – 143 +1; T8. Aksel Olsen, South Florida, 69-74 – 143 +1; T8. Rowin Caron, Florida State, 70-73 – 143 +1; T8. Bryson Nimmer, Clemson, 72-71 – 143 +1; T8. Alvaro Ortiz, Arkansas, 71-72 – 143 +1.
LSU SCORES
T2. Zach Wright, 69-71 – 140 -2
T8. Luis Gagne, 73-70 – 143 +1
T29. Brandon Pierce, 72-76 – 148 +6
T35. Sam Burns, 72-77 – 149 +7
T63. Eric Ricard, 74-80 – 154 +12