LSU takes tournament lead in Round 2

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. --- LSU had three players shoot par or better in the second round as the Tigers moved to the top of the team leaderboard at the 2018 Southeastern Conference Men's Golf Championship at Sea Island Golf Club on Thursday.

The Tigers got a 4-under 66 from Nathan Jeansonne, a 1-under 69 from Philip Barbaree and an even-par 70 from Luis Gagne to spark a 4-under 276 round and move to 3-under 557 for the tournament. Jacob Bergeron's 1-over 71 was LSU's other counting score on Thursday.

LSU is two strokes ahead of Vanderbilt (559) and six clear of Alabama (563).

The final round of stroke play will take place on Friday starting at 7:30 am. The top eight teams after 54 holes will advance to match play beginning on Saturday. There are 14 strokes separating LSU from eighth-place Florida (571). Five teams are within six shots or less behind the Gators heading into Friday's round.

"It's like we're in the bottom of the sixth or the top of the seventh," LSU head coach Chuck Winstead said. "There's a lot of golf left to be played. It's far from over. You've just got to play. The league is as strong as I've ever seen it. It's great and it should be because we're the SEC. I've been doing this for a long time, and I know it's far from over. The conditions are tough, the hole placements are tough and the course is in great shape. We've just got to keep playing."

The individual medalist will be crowned on Friday as well. Ole Miss' Cecil Wegener fired a 5-under 65 on Thursday to move to 5-under 135 for the tournament and into first place individually. Gagne, Jeansonne, Vanderbilt's Theo Humphrey and Alabama's Wilson Furr are one shot back at 136.

"I played really well today," Wegener said. "I am glad I could help my team get in a good position heading into the last round of stroke play."

Live scoring and tee times can be found at SECSports.com and Golfstat.com.