Tigers Advance to Final Day of NCAA Women’s Golf Medal Play

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — The LSU Tigers golf team experienced a day of ebbs and flows but at the end of the third round Sunday the team advances to play the fourth round Monday with an opportunity to make match play in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course.

LSU posted an 8-over 296 for a 54-hole total of 20-over par 884 (296-292-296). The Tigers are 11th and will be one of the 15 teams of the original 24 to make the final round on Monday. The top eight team scores after Monday’s round will move on to the match play round which begins Tuesday.

The Tigers are just three shots out of the eighth spot held at +17 by Florida State. LSU is in 11th place and will play with 10th place Oregon and 12th place South Carolina beginning at 12:55 p.m. CDT.

LSU’s Sunday round got off to a shaky start with three bogeys and a double on the first hole. But after reaching +6 for the round through the first three holes, the flow went LSU’s way as Kendall Griffin birdied  the fourth and then eagled the par four 6th with a hole out from about 100 yards out.

Meanwhile, Alden Wallace, after a double bogey early on, birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to get back to even par at the turn and just as quickly LSU was also back to even par as a team for the day.

“We didn’t get off to the greatest start but then we rallied at the end of the front nine,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion. “We got it back to even (from +6) real quick highlighted by Kendall’s hole out at 6. We were in good shape. Then we turned on 10 we had a couple balls in the water that cost us and we kind of made another little surge but we didn’t get our strong finish like Saturday. Every shot is important. We really haven’t made a lot of putts. We are still getting used to reading putts in the desert but I just want us to come out (Monday) and be ultra confident and try to fight to the end and see what happens.”

Wallace also played well on the back nine and led LSU in scoring with five birdies in shooting an even par 72.

Latanna Stone posted a 1-over 73, Ingrid Lindblad a 3-over 75 and Griffin and Carla Tejedo Mulet each shot 4-over 76.

Tejedo Mulet, who entered the round at even par for 36 holes, remain LSU’s top in the individual standings at 4-over 220 and tied for 33rd place. Stone is in a tie for 41st at 5-over 221. Wallace is T54 at 223.

While this is the second time LSU has been in the championship since the present format of medal play and match play combines to determine the champion. This will be the first LSU women’s team to go to the final round and has it has been proven in college golf, the three-shot margin from LSU to the present eighth place score can change in a heartbeat.

“Three shots can change in one hole,” said Coach Runion. “We’ve just got to put our heads down and focus on what we do and be us and don’t try to be anything other than what we are and we should be alright. I still think our best is yet to come.”

Stanford is the runaway team leader at 18-under par 846, 20 shots ahead of Duke. Ole Miss, Auburn and South Carolina from the SEC are also in the final 15 for Monday.

The individual title will be decided on Monday and Stanford’s Rachel Heck is at 10-under 206, five shots clear of teammate Angelina Ye.

Monday’s round will also mark the beginning of the live coverage on The Golf Channel beginning at 4 p.m. CDT. The coverage will also be available streaming on the NBC Sports app, NBCsports.com and Golfchannel.com. Live scoring is available during the round at Golfstat.com.

LSU Individual Totals
T33. Carla Tejedo Mulet. 73-71-76 — 220 +4
T41. Latanna Stone 77-71-73 — 221 +5
T54. Alden Wallace 73-78-72 — 223 +7
T70. Ingrid Lindblad 74-76-75 — 225 +9
T75. Kendall Griffin 76-74-76 — 226 +10

2021 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships

Team Scores (Through Third Round)
1. Stanford – 291-278-277 = 846 (-18)
2. Duke – 292-281-293 = 866 (+2)
3. Oklahoma State – 297-289-282 = 868 (+4)
4. Texas – 289-288-293 = 870 (+6)
5. Ole Miss – 296-291-288 = 875 (+11)
6. Arizona State – 300-291-286 = 877 (+13)
7. Wake Forest – 292-293-295 = 880 (+16)
8. Florida State – 298-285-298 = 881 (+17)
9. Arizona – 292-298-292 = 882 (+18)
10. Oregon – 290-300-293 = 883 (+19)
11. LSU – 296-292-296 = 884 (+20)
12. South Carolina – 312-288-287 = 887 (+23)
13. Baylor – 308-293-290 = 891 (+27)
14. Auburn – 305-299-288 = 892 (+28)
15. UCLA – 302-293-300 = 895 (+31)

Did not advance to Round 4
16. Michigan State – 301-294-303 = 898 (+34)
17. Kent State – 292-310-297 = 899 (+35)
T18. Georgia – 307-295-300 = 902 (+38)
T18. Kentucky – 299-307-296 = 902 (+38)
20. Michigan – 304-296-303 = 903 (+39)
T21. Virginia Tech – 302-304-300 = 906 (+42)
T21. Maryland – 306-297-303 = 906 (+42)
23. Southern California – 307-300-300 = 907 (+43)
24. Alabama – 308-310-298 = 916 (+52)