KILLEN, ALA. — LSU’s John Humphries is the story of the tournament after day one here at the Southeastern Conference Men’s Golf Championships, held at Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club.
Amid strong winds, Humphries shot a 2-under par 70 to tie for the overall lead after 18 holes. Along with Humphries, Alex Rocha of Mississippi State, Brandt Snedeker of Vanderbilt, and Michael Morrison of Georgia are all tied at two-under par.
“It was really windy and cold, and that’s what got the scores up,” LSU head coach Greg Jones said. “Par was about a 74 or a 75 with the weather the way it was out there today.”
“It makes John’s round that much better. He’s really playing sound right now. All phases of his game are solid.”
Georgia leads the team tournament after day one, thanks to a two-under par 286 first round score. Auburn is just four strokes off the pace after a first round 290.
LSU stands in fourth place overall after the first 18 holes of the tournament, finishing day one with a 301 total score, good for 13 strokes over par. LSU was in position to finish much stronger, but the wind and cold affected the Tigers towards the end of their rounds.
“We actually could have finished in second place today, but we played holes 16 through 18 9-over par. That’s why we dropped down to fourth overall.” Jones said.
Other Tigers contributing to the scoring were Jeremy Wilkinson with a first round of 4-over par 76, which puts him in a tie for 22nd position overall, and Alan Morgan, who carded a 5-over par first round score of 77, finds himself tied in 28th position. Also competing for the Tigers were Jason Humphries and Craig Taylor, who finished with identical rounds of 78 on day one, putting them in a tie for 38th position overall.
“Alan and Jeremy both struggled out there a little bit with the weather, but so did a lot of the field,” Jones said. “The weather will be a little bit better tomorrow, and I expect some better rounds from them tomorrow.”
The tournament continues tomorrow with another 18 rounds beginning at 8 a.m. Central Time. The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Sunday.
TEAM SCORES
1. Georgia 286
2. Auburn 290
3. Mississippi State 297
4. LSU 301
Tennessee 301
6. Ole Miss 304
7. Alabama 305
8. Arkansas 306
Vanderbilt 306
10. Florida 307
11. South Carolina 308
12. Kentucky 316
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1. Alex Rocha, Mississippi State 38-32 — 70
Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt 36-34 — 70
John Humphries, LSU 37-33 — 70
Michael Morrison, Georgia 36-34 — 70
5. Roland Thatcher, Auburn 35-36 — 71
6. Nick Cassini, Georgia 38-34 — 72
Jason Dufner, Auburn 37-35 — 72
Erik Compton, Georgia 38-34 — 72
Bryant Odom, Georgia 36-36 — 72
Jon Rusk, Auburn 36-36 — 72
11. John-Gordon Beckett, Kentucky 37-36 — 73
Austin Hynson, Alabama 38-35 — 73
Jon Bartlett, Ole Miss 36-37 — 73
14. Camilo Benedetti, Florida 39-35 — 74
Michael Maness, South Carolina 37-37 — 74
Andrew Pratt, Tennessee 38-36 — 74
17. Derrick Centers, Tennessee 35-40 — 75
Ben Smith, Mississippi State 40-35 — 75
Ryan Blagg, Arkansas 37-38 — 75
Scott Weatherly, Auburn 37-38 — 75
Codie Mudd, Mississippi State 36-39 — 75
22. Jeremy Wilkinson, LSU 36-40 — 76
Andrew Black, Tennessee 37-39 — 76
Chris Malloy, Ole Miss 40-36 — 76
John Bloomfield, South Carolina 37-39 — 76
Ian Parnaby, Tennessee 40-36 — 76
Beau Galyean, Arkansas 41-35 — 76
28. Alan Morgan, LSU 41-36 — 77
Andrew Medley, Ole Miss 37-40 — 77
Craig Lile, Arkansas 42-35 — 77
Jan Are Larsen, Alabama 41-36 — 77
Bubba Dickerson, Florida 38-39 — 77
Wesley Pate, Alabama 40-37 — 77
Kevin Haefner, Auburn 37-40 — 77
Ben Banks, Florida 37-40 — 77
Michael Trailov, Mississippi State 41-36 — 77
Ryan Grant, Vanderbilt 39-38 — 77
38. Kyle Thompson, South Carolina 40-38 — 78
Ned Michaels, Vanderbilt 38-40 — 78
Nicholas Balanis, Alabama 39-39 — 78
Jason Humphries, LSU 38-40 — 78
Phil Caravia, Ole Miss 40-38 — 78
Craig Taylor, LSU 38-40 — 78
Ed McSpadden, Arkansas 41-37 — 78
45. Freeman Fite, Alabama 38-41 — 79
Ron Layman, Kentucky 39-40 — 79
Nick Gilliam, Florida 40-39 — 79
Taylor Walsh, Florida 37-42 — 79
49. Eric Ecker, South Carolina 39-41 — 80
John Mueller, Mississippi State 43-37 — 80
Jay Houk, Arkansas 37-43 — 80
52. Troy Muller, Ole Miss 42-39 — 81
Nick Manthey, Vanderbilt 42-39 — 81
Andy Dustman, Kentucky 39-42 — 81
John Pitt, Vanderbilt 42-39 — 81
56. Bubba Watson, Georgia 41-41 — 82
Andy Brimer, Tennessee 42-40 — 82
58. Wes Furnish, Kentucky 41-42 — 83
Pat Kelly, Kentucky 43-40 — 83
60. Scott Feaster, South Carolina 43-41 — 84