Tiger Rag News Services
The No. 2 LSU men’s golf team finished its visit to Rio Grande with a second-place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic. The tournament is held at the par-72, 7,152-yard Grand Reserve Golf Course.
It was a great three days of play for the Tigers in the Caribbean as they went 37 under (827) with a tournament-leading 72 birdies to finish second to No. 1 Virginia. The -37 performance from the brand-new lineup ranks tied for the third-lowest team score in LSU history in relation to par. This marks the third time during the 2025-26 season that the men have gone 30 under or better.
Junior Noah McWilliams stepped up big this week, matching his career best of 12-under 204 through 56 holes, including a four-under 68 to close the tournament on Wednesday. The Louisianan last went 12 under in 2024 when he won the Bayou City Collegiate during the fall. McWilliams finished eighth overall as an individual in large part to the 17 birdies he recorded over three rounds. He finished with a 2.83 average on three-par holes and a 3.83 average on four-par holes.
Possibly the biggest story of the tournament was freshman Hudson Lawson getting his debut in the LSU lineup after finding out Arni Sveinsson was too sick to play. Heading into the spring season Lawson’s best outing of the fall was a one-under 212 at the Bryan Bros Collegiate. Lawson blew that performance out of the water with a nine-under (207) week in Puerto Rico that included a tournament-leading two eagles and 4.17 average on par-five holes. The freshman closed the week with a two-under 70 to finish tied for 14th on Wednesday.
Third best performer of the day, and week, for LSU was senior Jay Mendell who finished T23 on the week with a seven-under 209. Mendell went one under (71) on Wednesday to close another solid performance this season.
Freshman Dan Hayes continues to show promise as he finished tied for 29th overall with a six-under week. Hayes led the tournament in birdies as an individual with 18 total through the rounds of play. This is the third tournament in a row that Hayes has gone below par through 56 holes.
Closing the lineup in the fifth spot was senior Matty Dodd-Berry who went three under (213) on the weekend to finish T42. Dodd-Berry had a quiet Wednesday with a one-over-73 performance to close the tournament, but had a great round two on Tuesday where he went five under that highlights his week in Puerto Rico.
THE TIGERS
8. Noah McWilliams, -12 (66, 70, 68)
T14. Hudson Lawson, -9 (70, 67, 70)
T23. Jay Mendell, -7 (69, 69, 71)
T29. Dan Hayes, -6 (69, 69, 72)
T42. Matty Dodd-Berry, -3 (73, 67, 73)
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. No. 1 Virginia, -55 (266, 275, 268)
2. No. 2 LSU, -37 (274, 272, 281)
3. No. 18 Tennessee, -36 (276, 274, 278)
4. No. 14 Oklahoma, -33 (276, 276, 279)
5. South Carolina, -31 (276, 278, 279)
T6. Ohio State, -28 (267, 281, 288)
T6. Charleston, -28 (280, 282, 274)
8. Georgia, -27 (276, 280, 281)
9. Iowa, -24 (276, 279, 285)
10. Marquette, -22 (280, 278, 284)
11. No. 29 Louisville, -20 (285, 277, 282)
12. Minnesota, -16 (286, 273, 289)
13. Purdue, -9 (283, 284, 288)
14. Wisconsin, -7 (286, 280, 292)
15. North Florida, +1 (283, 287, 295)
Be the first to comment