BATON ROUGE – A second solid, steady round of golf Saturday put the LSU women’s golf team in a tie for the lead with Tennessee as the Lady Tigers will play in the final groups on Sunday looking for their first title since 2005 in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic at the University Club.
LSU, ranked fifth in the National Golf Coaches Association rankings, found itself tied for the tournament team lead after Tennessee had held the lead most of the afternoon. The Lady Vols had their round going as low as 7-under at one point before the teams came together at the end of the day.
LSU will be going for its fourth team title of the year, trying to tie UCLA, the only other top 25 team with four team wins this year. The pair is the only teams with three team wins among the ranked schools.
LSU freshman Madelene Sagstrom will also go to the final round with a chance to capture a championship as her second consecutive round of 1-under 71 gives her the individual lead at 2-under par 142. She is one shot ahead of Catherine O’Donnell of North Carolina who at 1-under 143 (72-71). Lauren Stratton of Vanderbilt is at even par 144 and first-round leader Marina Alex of Vanderbilt is in a group at 1-over 145 after a second-round 75.
Defending NCAA Champion Austin Ernst of LSU is also in a group in seventh place just five shots back at 2-over 146 after back-to-back rounds of 1-over 73.
Both LSU and Tennessee are at 11-over par 587 after 36 holes after Tennessee shot 1-over 289 and LSU posted a four-over 292 as both teams improved on their first day scores. The pair has opened up 14 shots on the rest of the field with North Carolina and Vanderbilt tied for third at 25-over par 601. It is another seven shots back to Virginia in fifth at 608.
“We fought hard out there (Saturday),” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “Tennessee played a great round, but I knew we would keep our composure. We had a couple of mistakes along the way but they really handled themselves well. We feel like we left some strokes out there (Saturday). Our goal is to go out there and post a good number (Sunday). We cannot control and worry about what the other teams are doing. We need to go out there and take care of our business.”
Besides Sagstrom and Ernst, LSU counted a 1-over 73 from senior Jacqueline Hedwall and a 3-over 75 from sophomore Lindsay Gahm. Senior Tessa Teachman is in a tie for 14th at 6-over 150 after rounds of 73-77.
Sagstrom leads the tournament on the par 4s, having played them in 1-under par and the freshman from Sweden was also 1-under on the par 3s. Ernst is -2 for the tournament on the par five holes.
The final round Sunday, with weather calling for a 30 percent chance of showers late in the round, will be a shotgun start for all the teams at 8:30 a.m. with the trophy presentation immediately following the round. LSU will be looking for its eighth title in events it has hosted and the Lady Tigers have three wins at the U-Club.
Tennessee was led by Erica Popson who had five birdies in a 2-under 70 round to lead the Lady Vols.
ULM finished the second day in 14th place after rounds of 317 and 313 to stand at 54-over 630.
Final round updates will be provided on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LSUwomensgolf and at Twitter @LSUwomensgolf. Live scoring will be available at LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com.
LSU Tiger Golf Classic
Second Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Tennessee 298-289 – 587 +11; 1. LSU 295-292 – 587 +11; 3. North Carolina 301-300 – 601 +25; 3. Vanderbilt 302-299 – 601 +25; 5. Virginia 304-304 – 608 +32; 6. Kentucky 311-303 – 614 +38; 7. TCU 306-314 – 620 +44; 8. Louisville 314-308 – 622 +46; 9. Purdue 311-312 – 623 +47; 10. North Carolina State 308-318 – 626 +50; 10. UNCW 315-311 – 626 +50; 12. Notre Dame 318-310 – 628 +52; 13. Charleston 322-307 – 629 +53; 14. ULM 317-313 – 630 +54.
Individual Top 15 ( Par 72-144)
1. Madelene Sagstrom, LSU, 71-71 – 142 -2; 2. Catherine O’Donnell, North Carolina, 72-71 – 143 -1; 3. Lauren Stratton, Vanderbilt, 72-72 – 144 E; 4. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt, 70-75 – 145 +1; 4. Erica Popson, Tennessee, 75-70 – 145 +1; 6. Austin Ernst, LSU, 73-73 – 146 +2; 6. Sara Monberg, Tennessee, 73-73 – 146 +2; 8. Laura Gonzalez, Purdue, 74-75 – 149 +5; 8. Lauren Greenlief, Virginia, 72-77 – 149 +5; 8. Betsie Johnson, Kentucky, 78-71 – 149 +5; 8. Vanessa Koechi, Charleston, 75-74 – 149 +5; 8. Nathalie Mansson, Tennessee, 76-73 – 149 +5; 8. A. J. Newell, Tennessee, 76-73 – 149 +5; 14. Augusta James, NC State, 73-77 – 150 +6; 14. Laverry Kumar, UNCW, 76-74 – 150 +6; 14. Kaitlyn Rohrback, Tennessee, 74-76 – 150 +6; 14. Tessa Teachman, LSU, 73-77 – 150 +6.
LSU Scores
1. Madelene Sagstrom 71-71 – 142 -2
T6. Austin Ernst 73-73 – 146 +2
T14. Tessa Teachman 73-77 – 150 +6
T18. Jacqueline Hedwall 78-73 – 151 +7
T32. Lindsay Gahm 79-75 – 154 +10
T53. Katrina Hegge 79-80 – 159 +15