MELBOURNE, Florida – LSU junior Ingrid Lindblad went wire-to-wire to complete her sixth collegiate individual title Tuesday at the Moon Golf Invitational and her LSU Tiger teammates posted their best round of the event to finish third.
Overall it was a strong opening event for the Tigers, who now will come right back starting Monday at the nationally-televised Darius Rucker Invitational in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Lindblad posted a 1-over 73 to finish 54 holes over the Suntree Country Club Classic Course at 10-under par 206, tied for the 7th lowest 54-hole total in school history. The Swedish golfer now has posted four of the top 10 54-hole scores in LSU women’s golf history.
Lindblad posted rounds of 66-67-73 and her 10-under total was good enough to win by three over both Beth Lillie of Virginia and Kendall Griffin on Louisville. The pair both finished at 7-under par 209.
Lindblad, ranked third in the Golfstat performance rankings entering the tournament and No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, tied Kristi Coats (1990-93) on the all-time LSU individual wins list with six wins each. It is Lindblad’s second title of the 2021-22 season, having won the Stevens Cup earlier in the fall.
Only Jenny Lidback, who won seven events in the 1985-86 season, has won more golf events for LSU.
“I am very proud of Ingrid and her win,” said LSU head women’s golf coach Garrett Runion. “It’s always hard to go wire-to-wire. She was feeling some pressure and nerves down the stretch. but she hit some unbelievable golf shots to close it out.”
It is the 53rd individual win in a college tournament by an LSU golfer.
Ironically, Lindblad’s 73 was the high counting score for the team on the final day as junior Latanna Stone had five birdies in a three-under par round of 69, while Carla Tejedo Mulet also had five birdies in a 2-under 70 and senior Jessica Bailey had four birdies, also coming in at 2-under 70.
The 69 was Stone’s best round of the 2021-22 season with the 70 the second lowest round of the season for Carla Tejedo Mulet.
For the round, LSU was six-under par 282, their second straight under par team round and their sixth of the 2021-22 campaign to finish at 3-under par 861 and in third place. LSU posted rounds of 292-287-282 for a 54-hole total of 861.
It was LSU’s third top four finish in five events.
“We had a great week,” said Coach Runion. “The first tournament of the spring you don’t know what to expect since it has been almost four months since we last played, but the ladies played great. Our goal was to get better after the first round and improve each day and we improved five shots each day. Jessica Bailey played great. It was a solid finish for her which really helped us.
“Latanna played great (Tuesday),” said the coach. “She didn’t have the fall she wanted and she was back to her form after having a great break with the two tournament wins. It was really good to see Carla as well shoot 70 and really helped take some of the load off Ingrid this time. We are a very deep team I believe and that showed (Tuesday).
Florida State won the title at 10-under par 854 after a 7-under 281 on the final day, while Virginia finish one shot ahead of LSU at 4-under 860. Alabama made a run at the top three shooting a 9-under 279 Tuesday to finish fourth at 2-under par 862.
Besides this win and the Stevens Cup in the fall, Lindblad has also won the Magnolia Invitational in 2019, the Florida State Match-Up in 2020 and Liz Murphey Classic and LSU Tiger Golf Classic in 2021.
Moon Golf Invitational
Final Team Results (Par 288-864)
1 Florida State 286-287-281 – 854 -10; 2. Virginia 287-288-285 – 860 -4; 3. LSU 292-287-282 – 861 -3; 4. Alabama 297-286-279 – 862 -2; 5 UCF 292-286-285 – 863 -1; 6 Florida 291-290-289 – 870 +6; T7 Auburn 295-287-289, South Carolina 295-291-285 – 871 +7; 9. Arkansas 296-294-288 –878 +14; T10 Baylor 301-288-293, Duke 304-298-288 – 882 =18; 12. North Carolina 298-305-281 – 884; 13. Louisville 291-305-296 – 892 +28; 14. Augusta 302-297-300 – 899 +35; 15. Miami 307-308-300 – 915 +51.
LSU Individual Scores (Par 72-216)
1 Ingrid Lindblad 66-67-73 – 206 -10
T18 Latanna Stone 76-73-69 – 218 +2
T26 Carla Tejedo Mulet 76-74-70 – 220 +4
T26 Jessica Bailey 77-73-70 – 220 +4
T60 Elsa Svensson 74-76-76 – 226 +10