Former Tiger Golfer Lindblad Scores Her First Professional Victory

BATON ROUGE – Former LSU golfer Ingrid Lindblad, who ended her record-breaking college career this past May, returned to the Southeastern Conference area Sunday to record her first professional victory on the Epson Tour.

Lindblad posted a final round of 5-under 67 to capture the Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic at the Ol’ Colony Golf Complex on Sunday, her first professional victory in her seventh start on the Epson Tour since turning professional in early June. She played two LPGA events, including the Evian Open in Paris, as a pro as well.

The 24-year-old native of Sweden, who was a five-time first-team All-American at LSU, won a league record 15 times at LSU, was three-time SEC POY and won the ANNIKA, Inkster and WGCA POY awards this past season, posted rounds of 67-66-67 for a 16-under par total of 200 for the 54-hole event. She won by two shots over Ana Belac, who finished at 14-under par 202.

The victory was worth a check for $35,625 and more importantly, 500 Epson Tour points.

Lindblad won her SEC Championship just up the road in Birmingham in 2022 when she made a 38-foot eagle on the 54th hole to get the championship title.

“The first nine was kind of, I would say, very boring. The first ten holes, actually,” explained Lindblad. “Then I started rolling in birdies, and I rolled in about 25-footer, then another 25-footer, and then, like, a 35 or 40-footer. I was like, I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Everything happened pretty quickly. It feels really good. I mean, it was close last week, but I was able to get it done this week.”

It has been a strong two weeks for Lindblad, finishing solo second a week ago in Prattville, Alabama and with her win Sunday, she has moved up 46 spots in the chance to be in the top 15 to automatically earn her LPGA Tour card for 2025 without having to go through the remaining qualifying stages of LPGA Q-Series.

This all comes after missing the cut in her first Epson Tour start in early June. Earlier this week, she told a writer it may have been a blessing in disguise.

“I think everyone kind of expected me to win the first tournament,” said Lindblad. “It didn’t turn out that way, which I thought was kind of nice. It took the pressure off a little bit. It’s a big difference being out here. I’m trying to tell myself that the golf is the same, but the surroundings are a little different.”

The Epson Tour is the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, where players earn LPGA Tour Membership through the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card. From 1999-2002, LPGA Tour cards were awarded to the top 3 individuals on the season’s money list. Beginning this season, 15 LPGA cards will be distributed to top points earners over the 20-event season. Each regular season event offers the winner 500 points, and the Epson Tour Championship offers 650 points as the season finale.

Lindblad is now No. 7 in the rankings with two events remaining – the Murphy USA EL Dorado (Arkansas) Shootout next week and the October Epson Tour Championship. Despite competing as a professional for less than half a season, Lindblad has already shown that she is more than ready to test her game amongst the best in the world. It’s just a matter of when she will get to do so.

“It’s not even my first year. It’s a half year, so if I could do that, it would be pretty cool,” said Lindblad. “I’m just trying to take one round at a time and even one shot at a time. We’ll see what happens.”

Lindblad is still calling Baton Rouge her home base for the time being and she said she is continuing her ways of relaxing during tournament weeks. It was mainly puzzles in college. Now she is ament weeks. On the course, Lindblad is heavily focused on her routine, but off the course, she relies on diamond painting – a bedazzled paint by numbers – and comfort shows to blow off steam.

“You buy a canvas that’s already sticky and put diamonds in spots,” said Lindblad. “I usually do that and put on a TV show or movie. I’ve watched Modern Family a lot and have probably watched Grey’s Anatomy like five times. It’s very relaxing.”