ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. \u2013 The No. 8 LSU Men\u2019s Golf team finished the first day of play with a five-under performance, sitting at T10 on the team leaderboard at the SEC Championship. The event is played at the par-70, 7,005-yard Sea Island Golf Club.<\/p>\n
An average start to the day for an explosive squad in the LSU Tigers saw them sit near the back as low as 16th at the halfway point on Wednesday. Clawing their way back, the Tigers now sit in T10 due to impressive performances in the final four holes where eight birdies were recorded from the lineup. Par-three and par-four holes are where the Tigers didn\u2019t see their best work, but they excelled in par fives with a 4.60 average as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe looked a little rusty and a little tentative,\u201d said Head Coach Jake Amos on the first round of play for LSU. \u201cThere\u2019s many a time when I wanted to go yell at them and tell them to fire it up, but luckily I let them stick to the process and they started to be rewarded from doing the right things the last few holes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pacing the Tigers on day one of the conference tournament was freshman Dan Hayes, leading from start to finish. Hayes closed with a two-under 68 in his first ever taste of postseason competition. The Englishman recorded three birdies on the day and finished Wednesday with a bogey on hole nine. He has recorded 13 total pars in the tournament so far as he sits in T23.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll in all, I played well,\u201d said Hayes. \u201cI struggled a bit hitting at the start and then I slowly got into the round and started hitting the ball really well. I gave myself a lot of chances and just misread a couple down the back nine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside Hayes at the finish with a two-under 68 was junior Noah McWilliams. The Louisianan had a rough start with two bogeys in the first nine holes but closed with three birdies in the back half. McWilliams leads the Tigers with four birdies total on day one as he sits in T23.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got off to a bad start,\u201d said McWilliams. \u201cI played the first nine one over and then I knew I had to get some things firing. I birdied one, hit it stiff and so I held back. Now my wedges are really solid. I didn\u2019t necessarily roll in a whole lot, but kind of just did everything that I needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior Jay Mendell fell in the third spot for the LSU lineup after an 18-hole battle to start his week in St. Simons. Mendell was the first person in the tournament to record an eagle, doing so on his sixth hole of the day (15). He closed with a one-under-69 performance in round one as he recorded two birdies on the final two holes of the day. Mendell closed in T31 on the individual leaderboard.<\/p>\n
Closing out the scoring for LSU in the first round was sophomore Arni Sveinsson. The Icelander had a rough start to the morning as he recorded three bogeys on the first nine of the day. Sveinsson closed the back nine with seven pars and two birdies in the middle of the day to close even in T45.<\/p>\n
\u201cNoah and Dan played really nice and tidy. Matty, Jay, and Arni looked a little sloppy today, but they fell back in the end,\u201d said Amos. \u201cThey started to settle down and get into the rhythm of things a little more. Those two (Noah and Dan) are coming out of the gates nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe say all the time to be consistent and keep doing the same things and do it well. They did it today and we\u2019re still right in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE TIGERS
T23. Dan Hayes, -2 (68)
T23. Noah McWilliams, -2 (68)
T31. Jay Mendell, -1 (69)
T45. Arni Sveinsson, E (70)
T72. Matty Dodd-Berry, +4 (74)<\/p>\n
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. #12 Ole Miss, -15 (265)
2. #16 Oklahoma, -14 (266)
T3. #1 Auburn, -11 (269)
T3. #3 Florida, -11 (269)
T3. #4 Texas, -11 (269)
6. Mississippi State, -9 (271)
T7. #17 Alabama, -8 (272)
T7. South Carolina, -8 (272)
9. Texas A&M, -6 (274)
T10. #8 LSU, -5 (275)
T10. Missouri, -5 (275)
12. #5 Arkansas, -3 (277)
T13. #11 Vanderbilt, -2 (278)
T13. #14 Tennessee, -2 (278)
15. #25 Georgia, E (280)
16. Kentucky, +5 (285)<\/p>\n
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