Freshman Arni Sveinsson Takes Lead At The Blessings; Tiger Team Heads To Final Round In Lead

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Freshman Arni Sveinsson fired a 5-under par round of 67 to move into the individual lead and help the LSU Tigers hold the team men’s lead after two rounds of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational at The Blessings Golf Club.

Sveinsson, from Iceland, followed up a 1-under round of 71 on Monday to stand at 6-under par 138 (71-67) after 36 holes and he is three shots clear of Jordan Gilkison of Kent State at 3-under par (72-69). Sebastian Moss of Louisville is at 2-under in third after back-to-back 71s. Four golfers are under par on the difficult 7,700-yard par 72 layout after two rounds.

The Tigers in the blustery, swirling wind conditions that came through the course most of the afternoon, lead after 36-holes at 6-over par 582 with rounds of 285 and 297. They are two shots clear of Mississippi State at 584 (287-297) and it is five more shots back to Louisville at 589 (301-288).

Sveinsson posted six birdies on the day, three on each side. He had a clean front nine with birdies on the par 4 first, the par 3 third and the drivable par 4 sixth to turn at 33. His only blemish came on the par four 14th when he posted a bogey five.

“It was just really solid from the first tee shot to the final putt,” Sveinsson said after the round. “I can only really remember one or two mistakes, and it was just a really solid round. Kudos to the coaches for helping us in a tough round, and I was able to hit great golf shots.”

In discussing the wind conditions during the round, Sveinsson said: “It was a bit confusing at times, especially during the end. It switched directions a couple of times, and the woods on the back nine forced it to swirl around a little bit. We had to really focus on being committed to the decision you make, and that was something I tried to do today.”

The Tigers also counted a 4-over 76 from Algot Kleen and 5-over 77s from Jay Mendell and Matthew Dodd-Berry.

Mendell and Kleen are tied for 14th in the individual competition at 4-over par 148. Mendell had rounds of 71-77 and Kleen was at 72-76.

Only Louisville was able to make a big move on the day as they were the only team to shoot better than 7-over par, posting an even par round of 288 to move up to third.

The final round on Wednesday will be televised by The Golf Channel beginning at 3:30 p.m. CT. Live scoring for the event is available on Scoreboard.clippd.com.

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational
Fayetteville, Arkansas – The Blessings Golf Course
Second Round Team Results – Par 288-576
1 LSU 285-297 – 582 +6
2 Mississippi State 289-297 – 584 +8
3 Louisville 301-288 – 589 +13
4 BYU 298-295 – 593 +17
5 Kansas State 301-299 – 600 +24
5 Ohio State 300-300 – 600 +24
7 Arkansas 299-302 – 601 +25
8 Missouri 304-298 – 602 +26
9 Kent State 302-205 – 607 +31
10 Virginia Tech 305-307 – 612 +36

Top 5 Individuals (Par 72-144)
1 Arni Sveinsson, LSU – 71-67 – 138 -6
2 Jordan Gilkison, Kent State – 72-69 – 141 -3
3 Sebastian Moss, Louisville – 71-71 – 142 -2
4 Drew Wilson, Mississippi State – 70-73 – 143 -1
5 Joe Wilson IV, Ohio State – 73-71 – 144 E

LSU Scores
1 Arni Sveinsson – 71-67 – 138 -6
T14 Jay Mendell – 71-77 – 148 +4
T14 Algot Kleen – 72-76 – 148 +4
T23 Matthew Dodd-Berry – 73-77 – 150 +6
T28 Luke Haskew – 71-80 – 151 +7