BRYAN, Texas – Four Tigers broke par in Sunday’s final round at the Aggie Invitational to lead a furious comeback as the 17th-ranked LSU Men’s Golf team fired a team score of 7-under par 281 on the day to finish two shots behind champion Oklahoma State in the final standings of their regular-season finale at Traditions Golf Club.
Freshman Sam Burns led the lineup with a 3-under par 69, while junior Eric Ricard carded a 2-under 70 and senior Zach Wright and freshman Luis Gagne added matching rounds of 1-under 71 to erase a 10-shot deficit to the 12th-ranked Cowboys to start the final round and finish just two shots back in second place with a 54-hole team score of 2-over par 866.
LSU’s 7-under 281 in the final round was the low round of the tournament as the Tigers moved one spot up the leaderboard after teeing off in third place overall at 9-over par for the championship.
Oklahoma State finished level par for the tournament to claim the team title with its 54-hole score of 864, while 23rd-ranked Arkansas finished nine shots behind the Tigers in third place with a final score of 11-over 875, North Texas followed in fourth place with a score of 12-over par 876 and 28th-ranked Baylor finished in fifth place with a final tournament score of 18-over 880.
Gagne and Wright were the lone Tigers to break par at this year’s Aggie Invitational as they tied one another for fourth place on the leaderboard at 1-under par 215 for the weekend. Since Gagne returned to the squad nearly two weeks ago, he has earned three-straight top-five finishes after tying for third place at the Valspar and tying for the top spot on the leaderboard at LSU’s Tiger Classic on Tuesday. Wright claimed his sixth top-five and seventh top-10 finish of the season in Sunday’s finale.
Gagne carded four birdies and three bogeys on the day for a 1-under 71 after opening the Aggie Invitational with his career-low 3-under 69 and 3-over 75 on Saturday. Wright also teed off in the final round at even-par for the tournament before matching his teammate with a 1-under 71 that featured five birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.
Burns cracked the Top 20 for the sixth time during his rookie season while tying for 15th place with a final score of 3-over 219 in three rounds of competition. He carded a bogey-free 3-under 69 on Sunday with birdies at the par-four first, par-four sixth and par-five 15th holes to match Gagne’s first-round effort for the lowest round by an LSU Tiger at this year’s Aggie Invitational.
Ricard moved 24 spots up the final leaderboard thanks to his 2-under 70 in the final round as he tied for 24th place overall at 7-over 223 for the weekend. Junior Brandon Pierce rounded out the lineup in a tie for 43rd for the tournament with a final score of 11-over par 227.
Arkansas’ Alvaro Ortiz and Oklahoma State’s Kristoffer Ventura finished one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard in a tie for first place as they shared medalist honors with a winning score of 4-under par 212.
The Tigers are the defending SEC Champions after winning their 16th conference title all-time a season ago, and they will return to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in three weeks looking to retain their crown at the 2016 SEC Men’s Golf Championships being held April 15-17 at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club. They will then start their NCAA-title defense in NCAA Regional play being held May 16-18 at a site to be determined.
AGGIE INVITATIONAL – FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Oklahoma State 283-292-289 – 864 E; 2. LSU 287-298-281 – 866 +2; 3. Arkansas 294-293-288 – 875 +11; 4. North Texas 291-289-296 – 876 +12; 5. Baylor 293-296-291 – 880 +18; T6. Kent State 293-305-286 – 884 +20; T6. Ohio State 292-301-291 – 884 +20; 8. Michigan 304-296-287 – 887 +23; 9. Texas A&M 299-296-293 – 888 +24; 10. Oklahoma 302-296-298 – 896 +32; 11. Texas Tech 309-296-307 – 912 +48; 12. UC-Riverside 308-306-301 – 915 +51; 13. Charlotte 307-307-304 – 918 +54; 14. Texas-San Antonio 308-311-305 – 924 +60; 15. New Mexico State 324-309-310 – 943 +79.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
T1. Alvaro Ortiz, Arkansas, 70-73-69 – 212 -4; T1. Kristoffer Ventura, Oklahoma State, 69-72-71 – 212 -4; 3. Chase Johnson, Kent State, 70-74-69 – 213 -3; T4. Luis Gagne, LSU, 69-75-71 – 215 -1; T4. Zach Wright, LSU, 70-74-71 – 215 -1; T4. Andrew Lister, Texas A&M, 73-72-70 – 215 -1; T4. Braden Bailey, Baylor, 70-72-73 – 215 -1; T8. Clarke Engle, Ohio State, 72-73-71 – 216 E; T8. Ian Snyman, North Texas, 70-67-79 – 216 E; T10. Freddy Andersen, Baylor, 74-70-73 – 217 +1; T10. Chris O’Neill, Michigan, 77-71-69 – 217 +1.
LSU SCORES
T4. Luis Gagne, 69-75-71 – 215 -1
T4. Zach Wright, 70-74-71 – 215 -1
T16. Sam Burns, 75-75-69 – 219 +3
T24. Eric Ricard, 74-79-70 – 223 +7
T43. Brandon Pierce, 74-74-79 – 227 +11