BATON ROUGE – After grabbing a 3-shot lead with a 10-under par 278 in the morning round, No. 5-ranked LSU wrapped up Monday’s opener at the 32nd-annual Louisiana Classics six shots off the pace in second place with a team score of 1-over 289 in the afternoon and 36-hole score of 9-under 567 at Oakbourne Country Club.
No. 23-ranked Kent State turned its three-shot deficit to LSU in the first round into a six-shot lead at the end of the day with a two-round team effort of 15-under par 561 with a 7-under 281 and 8-under 280.
The four leading teams in the Golfweek rankings entering the week occupied the top-four spots of the leaderboard on the first day of the tournament as Kent State and LSU were followed by No. 22 Texas A&M in the third spot at 1-under par 575 and No. 2 Illinois in fourth place at even-par 576. Sam Houston State rounded out the Top 5 of the team standings well back in fifth place with a score of 10-over 586.
As he has throughout the season, sophomore All-American Sam Burns continued to set the pace for the Tigers as he fired rounds of 2-under 70 and 4-under 68 to finish in a three-way tie for second at 6-under 138 with 10 birdies and four bogeys in his 36 holes. Kent State’s Ian Holt held the top spot by two shots as he followed the low round of the day at 7-under 65 in the morning with a 1-under 71 in the afternoon.
Fellow sophomore Luis Gagne first fired LSU’s lowest round of the day with a 4-under 68 in the first round before a 2-over 74 in the second round to also crack the Top 10 of the leaderboard in a tie for eighth place.
First Round
The Tigers were the class of the field in the first round as they counted four rounds under par for a 10-under par 278 with Kent State following close behind in second place at 7-under par. Illinois was close behind in the third spot with an opening 4-under 284, while Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas A&M both breaking par with matching 1-under 287s.
Burns was quick out of the gate with three-straight birdies to start his round at the par-four first, par-four second and par-five third holes. He turned at 1-under par with a pair of bogeys at the par-four sixth and eighth, and finished with three birdies at Nos. 10, 15 and 18 and bogeys at Nos. 13 and 16 on the back nine for an opening score of 2-under par 70.
Gagne was two shots better in the morning as he got as low as 5-under par with consecutive birdies at the par-four sixth, par-five seventh and par-four eighth between birdies at Nos. 3 and 11. Carding a bogey 6 at the par-five 13th proved to be his only setback in the morning as he finished with a team-low 4-under 68 to start the day.
The Tigers also counted matching scores of 2-under 70 by junior Blake Caldwell and freshman Philip Barbaree in the opening round to finish at 10-under par at the midway point. Senior Eric Ricard finished level after the opening 18 holes with a score of 72 to also crack the Top 20 in the morning round.
Second Round
Burns fired a bogey-free 4-under 68 in the afternoon to finish the day in a tie for second place individually and in contention for his third win of his sophomore season. The Shreveport native is also poised for his fourth top-five and eighth top-10 finish in eight tournament appearances this season. He has already been crowned champion at the David Toms Intercollegiate and Sun Bowl Western Refining All-America Golf Classic.
Counting scores in the afternoon were turned in by Caldwell with a 1-over 73 and both Gagne and Barbaree with matching rounds of 2-over 74. Caldwell broke par with a two-round total of 1-under 215 to finish off the day on the verge of his second-straight top-10 finish. Barbaree holed out in the afternoon in a tie for 14th place overall with a combined score of even-par 216.
Ricard followed his even-par 72 in the morning with a 4-over 76 in the afternoon to tie for 24th place ahead of Tuesday’s final round at 4-over par 220. Ricard reached as low at 2-under par through 26 holes.
Individuals
Freshman Carter Toms will lead a trio of Tigers competing as individuals into Tuesday’s final round as he posted a 6-over 78 and 2-over 74 for a two-round total of 8-over par 152 to end the day tied for 48th place.
Sophomore Nathan Jeansonne followed a round of 3-over 75 in the morning with a 7-over 79 in the afternoon to end the day in a tie for 59th place overall at 10-over par 154 through 36 holes. Senior Rhyne Jones ended the opening day of the tournament in a tie for 72nd place in the individual standings at 12-over par 156.
The Final Round
The Tigers are paired with Kent State and Texas A&M in Tuesday’s final round as they will tee off in the final wave off the front nine beginning at 8:50 a.m. CT. Final-round tee times will begin for the first groups early in the morning at 7:30 a.m. Golfstat will provide the live scoring of the final round as fans can follow the Tigers in action at http://www.golfstat.com.
32ND-ANNUAL LOUISIANA CLASSICS – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Kent State 281-280 – 561 -15; 2. LSU 278-289 – 567 -9; 3. Texas A&M 287-288 – 575 -1; 4. Illinois 284-292 – 576 E; 5. Sam Houston State 291-295 – 586 +10; 6. Louisiana-Lafayette 287-300 – 587 +11; 7. Southern Mississippi 291-304 – 595 +19; 8. Texas-San Antonio 298-300 – 598 +22; 9. Texas State 304-295 – 599 +23; 10. Toledo 296-306 – 602 +26; 11. Southern Illinois 298-305 – 603 +27; T12. Southern Louisiana 299-305 – 604 +28; T12. Louisiana Tech 302-302 – 604 +28; 14. Missouri-Kansas City 304-301 – 605 +29; 15. Texas-Arlington 310-302 – 612 +36.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Ian Holt, Kent State, 65-71 – 136 -8; T2. Sam Burns, LSU, 70-68 – 138 -6; T2. Fernando Cruz Valle, Louisiana-Lafayette, 68-70 – 138 -6; T2. Nick Hardy, Illinois, 66-72 – 138 -6; T5. Noah Steele, Sam Houston State, 70-70 – 140 -4; T5. Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M, 70-70 – 140 -4; T5. Gisli Sveinbergsson, Kent State, 72-68 – 140 -4; T8. Luis Gagne, LSU, 68-74 – 142 -2; T8. Brandon Carlson, Southern Illinois, 71-71-142 -2; T10. Josh Whalen, Kent State, 70-72 – 142 -2.
LSU SCORES
T2. Sam Burns, 70-68 – 138 -6
T8. Luis Gagne, 68-74 – 142 -2
T11. Blake Caldwell, 70-73 – 143 -1
T14. Philip Barbaree, 70-74 – 144 E
T24. Eric Ricard, 72-76 – 148 +4
T48. Carter Toms, 78-74 – 152 +8*
T59. Nathan Jeansonne, 75-79 – 154 +10*
T72. Rhyne Jones, 79-77 – 156 +12*
* – Indicates player competing as an individual.