LAFAYETTE, La. – The LSU men’s golf team finished the day at 11-under 565 and in second place at the 39th Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La. at Oakbourne Country Club on Monday. The Tigers are 11 strokes back from the leader, Texas A&M, heading into the final round.
These events are about toughness and grit,” said interim head coach Andrew Nelson. “Every team and player is going to have to deal with adversity throughout the day. What we coach is being able to handle and manage adversity well. This team can play well and find a lot of success with that mentality.”
Jay Mendell is currently in fourth place at 6-under after scoring a 2-under 70 in round one and a 4-under 68 in round two. The Freshman is 5 strokes behind the leader. Connor Gaunt is close behind at 3-under tied for tenth place and Alex Price is 1-under tied for eighteenth.
“It was so awesome to watch my team grind coming down the stretch, ” said Gaunt. “Thirty-six holes days are long and the last few holes are easy to just go through the motions. Our team ran through the finish line. I played solid in the final round and for me to be the drop score at even par is all we can ask for. If we do that more frequently our team will be hard to beat.”
As a team, LSU carded a 2-under 286 in the opening round to take sole possession of fifth place. Gaunt led the Tigers with a 3-under 69 that featured a back nine of 3-under 33. Mendell followed at 2-under 70. Mendell was 5-under through ten, but bogeyed the last two to finish round one. Price and Lance Yates contributed with an opening round at 1-over 73 and 2-over 74, respectively.
In round two LSU slowly climbed the leaderboard as the Tigers were 5-under at the turn. LSU carded 11 birdies on the back nine to bring its team total down to a round best, 9-under 279. Mendell led the way with a 4-under 68. The Lafayette native recorded 5 birdies and just one bogey in round two. Price and Yates finished at 2-under 70 in round two while carded a 1-under 71.
“We shot the lowest team round in round two this afternoon and we put ourselves in a great situation for tomorrow,” said Nelson. “With a chance to go out and compete with (Texas) A&M on the final day. That’s where you want to be in this game. Playing with the leaders and with a chance to go out and earn something.”
Texas A&M took a demanding lead early with a 12-under 276 in round one. The Aggies’ Phichaksn Maichon fired an 8-under 64 to take a 5-stroke lead in the individual race. Gaunt followed tied for fourth with three others and Mendell was tied for seventh at the end of the first round.
LSU individual, Noah McWilliams, fired a 1-under 71 in round one for the second lowest round of his career. The Freshman recorded a 70 in the Fall at the Stephens Cup in. Leo Johansson was the only other LSU individual to shoot par or better with an even 72.
Tiger fans can follow all the action with live scoring on Golfstat.com and look for updates on all LSU men’s golf social media platforms. ESPN+ will broadcast Tuesday’s final round live with Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer, Dan McDonald, on the call.
Team Leaderboard
1 1 Texas A&M -18 (276-282)
2 LSU -11 (286-279)
3 Michigan -6 (284-286)
4 Wake Forest -5 (289-282)
5 Sam Houston -4 (283-289)
6 SMU -3 (293-280)
7 Wake Forest E (285-291)
8 Louisiana Tech +1 (290-287)
T9 Texas State +3 (289-290)
T9 TCU +3 (290-289)
T11 Illinois State +7 (291-292)
T11 South Alabama +7 (288-295)
T11 13 Little Rock +9 (291-294)
14 Rice +10 (292-294)
15 Louisiana +14 (296-294)
LSU
4 Jay Mendell -6 (70-68)
T10 Connor Gaunt -3 (69-72)
T18 Alex Price -1 (73-70)
T23 Lance Yates E (74-70)
T37 Drew Doyle +2 (75-71)
LSU Individuals
T48 Leo Johansson +3 (72-75)
T52 Noah McWilliams +4 (71-77)
79 Luke Haskew +10 (78-76)
T87 Holden Webb +17 (78-83)