BATON ROUGE – The No. 7 LSU men’s golf team made it back-to-back tournament victories with a dominating 10-shot win against a highly touted field in the Pauma Valley (California) Invitational which completed its 54-hole run on Tuesday.
The Tigers finished ahead of teams ranked 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the NCAA Scoreboard by Clippd performance rankings and in all finished ahead of 12 teams ranked in the top 33 to win for the fourth time this season.
It is the ninth time in the long history of the LSU men’s golf program that a team has won four or more times in the fall/spring wraparound season and only three times has the program scored more than four in a season – 1959-60 and 2014-15 (5 wins) and 2016-17 (6 wins).
LSU posted rounds of 9-under 275 and 7-under 277 on Monday and an 11-under 273 Tuesday to finished 27-under par 825. That was 10 shots better than No. 4 Texas which also shot 11-under 273 but could gain no ground on the Tigers to finish at 17-under 835 (276-286-273). No. 5 Oklahoma State was third at 11-under 841 (279-286-276), one shot better than No. 13 Illinois at 10-under 842 (281-283-278).
Tennessee, ranked 30th, was fifth, five shots more back at 5-under par 847 (275-289-283).
LSU was also a winner in its last start, the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, a week ago. In the fall, LSU brought home the title in the Visit Knoxville opener and The Blessings Collegiate in Fayetteville, Arkansas,
Individually, the Tigers had three players in the top three on the par 71, 7,311-yard Pauma Valley Country Club layout.
Senior Algot Kleen, who played the last 36 holes in nine under par, had an eagle on the par 4 394-yard opening hole and then had five other birdies in a 5-under par 66 to close the tournament on Tuesday. That posted with rounds of 72 and 67 gave him a 54-hole total of 8-under par 205, good for second place.
For Kleen, who has a win this year and is ranked No. 11 in the NCAA performance rankings, it is his third top two finish.
LSU sophomore Jay Mendell and freshman Arni Sveinsson both tied for third place with scores of 7-under par 206. Mendell had rounds of 68-68-70, while Sveinsson had 69-70-67.
Mendell had an eagle of his own on the final day, recording a three on the par 5, 568-yard second hole. The Lafayette native turned on Tuesday at 4-under 32 after the eagle and two birdies on the first nine holes.
Sveinsson had a clean card with four birdies in his round. He is presently ranked just behind Kleen at No. 12 in the Scoreboard rankings.
All five Tiger players were under par for the final round with both Alfons Bondesson and Noah McWilliams posting 1-under par rounds of 70. Bondesson was also in on the eagle parade with an eagle at the par 4 sixth hole. He finished in a tie for 19th place at 1-under 212 (70-72-70).
LSU led the field on par 4 holes with a -8 score and was second at -17 on par 5 holes. The Tigers had a tournament leading 58 birdies and those three eagles on the final day put them at the top of that list as well.
Sveinsson led the field on par 4 holes at 8-under par, while Mendell tied at the top of the competition, going 7-under on the par 5s. Mendell was T2 in the field with 14 birdies, while Kleen posted 12.
After heading west from Baton Rouge for a couple of events, the Tigers will now head east for the Calusa Cup in Naples, Florida, April 6-8 at prestigious Calusa Pines Golf Club.
Pauma Valley Invitational
Pauma Valley, California – Pauma Valley Country Club
Final Team Results (Par 284-852)
1 No. 7 LSU – 275-277-273 – 825 -27
2 No. 4 Texas – 276-286-273 – 835 -17
3 No. 5 Oklahoma State – 279-286-276 – 841 -11
4 No. 13 Illinois – 281-283-278 – 842 -10
5 No. 30 Tennessee – 275-289-283 – 847 -5
6 No. 3 Ole Miss – 283-289-280 – 852 E
7 No. 26 Texas Tech – 279-290-284 – 853 +1
8 No. 6 Oklahoma – 288-283-288 – 859 +7
T9 No. 33 San Diego — 287-294-281 – 862 +10
T9 No. 21 Georgia Tech – 292-282-288 – 862 +10
T9 No. 2 Arizona State – 282-292-288 – 862 +10
T9 No. 15 San Diego State – 286-290-286 – 862 +10
13 No. 28 SMU – 291-292-285 – 868 +16
14 Loyola Marymount – 292-291-287 – 870 +18
15 San Francisco – 288-300-294 – 882 +30
Individual Top 5 (Par 71-213)
1 No. 13 Christiaan Maas, Texas – 68-70-66 – 204 -9
2 No. 11 Algot Kleen, LSU – 72-67-66 – 205 -8
T3 Jay Mendell, LSU – 68-68-70 – 206 -7
T3 No. 12 Arni Sveinsson, LSU – 69-70-67 – 206 -7
T3 No. 59 Jase Summy, Oklahoma – 72-66-68 – 206 -7
LSU Scores
2 Algot Kleen – 72-67-66 – 205 -8
T3 Jay Mendell – 68-68-70 – 206 -7
T3 Arni Sveinsson – 69-70-67 – 206 -7
T19 Alfons Bondesson – 70-72-70 – 212 -1
T39 Noah McWilliams – 68-79-70 – 217 +4