FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The LSU women’s golf team posted its second straight under par round and finished with the lowest 36 hole aggregate score in school history Sunday as the rain-shortened Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship came to a conclusion here at the Vanderbilt Legends Course.
LSU moved from 10th to sixth in the final standings of the event, following up Friday’s two-under 286 with a five-under 283 to finish 36 holes at seven-under par 569. That is the lowest two-round total in the 31 years of the women’s program at LSU, besting by seven shots the previous record of 576 posted at the 2006 NCAA East Regional when LSU shot back-to-back rounds of even par 288.
Southern California posted rounds of 10-under 278 and six-under 282 to win at 16-over 560, two shots better than UCLA (284-278) at 562. Auburn, tied for the first round lead, fell to third at 563 with Arizona State and Duke tied in front of LSU at 11-under 565.
LSU had three players under par on Sunday with Megan McChrystal at one-under 71, Tessa Teachman at three-under 69 and Jacqueline Hedwall shot her second LSU career four-under 68. Teachman, the sophomore from Baton Rouge, was hot at the start and end of her round, posting birdies on the first two holes of the day, the 10th and 11th, and then finishing with birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes, her final three of the day.
LSU’s other counting score was a three-over 75 by Mary Michael Maggio.
Three of the Tiger players posted eagle on the par 5 seventh hole and LSU played the final three holes of the round (the seventh-ninth) on the course for the counting scores in nine-under par.
“There was some seriously strong golf played out here this weekend,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “They course isn’t any different than when we’ve played it in the past other than it was softer because of the rain. “The players are that much better and can really take advantage of these conditions. These were some of the best team in the country and you were able to hit it right at the pins. But you’ve got to be able to put and post the scores and we were able to do that on Sunday. I can’t complain about the way we finished at all. We chipped in twice and finished really strong. I liked what I saw out there (Sunday).”
Teachman finished in a tie for seventh individually at five-under 139 (70-69), while McChrystal was 15th at three-under 141 (70-71). Hedwall made the biggest jump of some 46 places as he 76-68 put her at even par 144 as she moved from 76th to a tie for 30th.
LSU is next in action in defense of its Mercedes Benz Championship at Knoxville, Tenn., Oct. 16-18.
Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship
Franklin, Tenn.
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Southern California 278-282 ? 560 -16; 2. UCLA 284-278 ? 562 -14; 3. Auburn 278-285 ? 563 -13; 4. Arizona State 280-285 ? 565 -11; 4. Duke 283-282 ? 565 -11; 6. LSU 286-283 ? 569 -7; 7. Alabama 280-290 ? 570 -6; 8. Oklahoma State 285-286 ? 571 -5; 9. Georgia 285-288 ? 573 -3; 10. Arizona 286-290 ? 576 E; 11. Vanderbilt 285-293 ? 578 +2; 12. Virginia 292-287 ? 579 +3; 13. Stanford 287-293 ? 580 +4; 14. Florida 292-289 ? 581 +5; 15. Texas 290-294 ? 584 +8; 16. Tulane 296-289 ? 585 +9; 17. South Carolina 300-296 ? 596 +20.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-144)
1. Jennifer Song, Southern California, 66-66 ? 132 -12; 2. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt, 68-67 ? 135 -9; 2. Sydnee Michaels, UCLA, 70-65 ? 135 -9; 2. Cydney Clanton, Auburn, 67-68 ? 135 -9; 5. Margarita Ramos, Arizona, 68-69 ? 137 -7.
LSU Scores
T7. Tessa Teachman 70-69 ? 139 -5
T15. Megan McChrystal 70-71 ? 141 -3
T30. Jacqueline Hedwall 76-68 ? 144 E
T56. Mary Michael Maggio 72-75 ? 147 +3
T71. Amalie Valle 74-76 ? 150 +6