BATON ROUGE – Senior Zach Wright, junior Eric Ricard and freshman Luis Gagne tied one another for the top spot on the leaderboard at 1-under par for the day as the 17th-ranked LSU Tigers prepped for their regular-season finale this weekend with a decisive 25-shot victory at the six-team Tiger Classic held Tuesday at the University Club.
Fresh off their runner-up finish at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Florida just one week ago, the Tigers continued their momentum in the homestretch of the regular season by posting team rounds of 1-under par 287 in the morning with a 5-under par 283 in the afternoon to finish clear of runner-up Southeastern Louisiana.
The Tigers won the event with a final score of 6-under par 570, followed by the Lions (595) in second, Nicholls State (618) in third, Lamar (623) in fourth, New Orleans (633) in fifth and Jackson State (694) in sixth.
The defending national champions are hitting their stride as Wright, Ricard and Gagne each broke par with matching tournament scores of 1-under par 143 to share medalist honors on the afternoon. Gagne equaled an LSU best for the day with a 2-under 70 in the afternoon, while Ricard opened with a 1-under 71 in the first round and Wright posted his best of 1-under 71 in the second round.
Each of the five Tigers in the team lineup swept the Top 5 spots on the leaderboard in the Tiger Classic as freshman Sam Burns finished fourth at level par for the day with rounds of 1-under 71 and 1-over 73 with junior Brandon Pierce following in a tie for fifth place at 2-over 146 with his scores of 4-over 76 in the morning and 2-under 70 in the afternoon.
LSU’s individuals were also solid on the day, led by a top-10 finish by junior Rhyne Jones as he finished with a two-round total of 3-over 147 to tie for seventh place overall. Jones opened with his low round for the year at 1-over par 73 followed by a 2-over 74 in the second round. Sophomore Blake Caldwell placed 15th at 10-over 154, while freshman Nathan Jeansonne rounded out the scoring in a tie for 19th at 14-over 158.
The Lions of Southeastern Louisiana certainly roared early on as Paul Obermann fired a tournament-low 3-under 69 for first place and Lawrence Allen posted a 2-under 70 for second place after the first 18 holes.
Obermann slipped into a tie for seventh place with Jones on the final leaderboard with a 6-over 78 in the afternoon, while Allen tied for fifth place after ending with a 4-over 76 in the second round. The Lions were just two shots back of the Tigers with an opening-round 1-over 289, and held onto second place with their final score of 19-over par 595.
The Tigers are now ready to wrap up the regular season with their annual trip to Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas, to compete at Texas A&M’s two-day Aggie Invitational being held Saturday and Sunday. They’ll then defend their SEC title at the 2016 SEC Men’s Golf Championships being held April 15-17 at the Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
TIGER CLASSIC – FINAL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. LSU 287-283 – 570 -6; 2. Southeastern Louisiana 289-306 – 595 +19; 3. Nicholls State 310-308 – 618 +42; 4. Lamar 310-313 – 623 +47; 5. New Orleans 315-318 – 633 +57; 6. Jackson State 341-353 – 694 +118.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
T1. Zach Wright, LSU, 72-71 – 143 -1; T1. Eric Ricard, LSU, 71-72 – 143 -1; T1. Luis Gagne, LSU, 73-70 – 143 -1; 4. Sam Burns, LSU, 71-73 – 144 E; T5. Brandon Pierce, LSU, 76-70 – 146 +2; T5. Lawrence Allen, Southeastern Louisiana, 70-76 – 146 +2; T7. Rhyne Jones, LSU, 73-74 – 147 +3*; T7. Paul Obermann, Southeastern Louisiana, 69-78 – 147 +3; 9. Charlie Flowers, Lamar, 73-75 – 148 +4; 10. Markus Krieger, New Orleans, 73-76 – 149 +5.
LSU SCORES
T1. Zach Wright, 72-71 – 143 -1
T1. Eric Ricard, 71-72 – 143 -1
T1. Luis Gagne, 73-70 – 143 -1
4. Sam Burns, 71-73 – 144 E
T5. Brandon Pierce, 76-70 – 146 +2
T7. Rhyne Jones, 73-74 – 147 +3*
15. Blake Caldwell, 78-76 – 154 +10*
T19. Nathan Jeansonne, 82-76 – 158 +14*
* – Indicates player competing as an individual.