BATON ROUGE – LSU freshman Arni Sveinsson, after an All-American first season, will try to help the International squad regain the Arnold Palmer Cup when the annual competition among the top collegiate players begins Thursday at the Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
This will be the 29th edition of the Cup with the USA leading the all-time series, 15-12-1. Last year’s matches were played at the famed Lahinch Golf Course in Ireland with former LSU player Latanna Stone getting the clinching point for the Americans, coached by LSU women’s coaches Garrett Runion and Alexis Rather.
Sveinsson will be the first player from Iceland to make an appearance in the three-day multiple match event.
The event starts on Thursday with Mixed Four-Ball matches (two players each playing their own ball throughout the round, low score is the team score).
Friday will feature Foursomes (alternate shot play) and then a second round, this time of Mixed Foursomes. The event concludes on Saturday with 14 singles matches.
The first team to win 30.5 points clinches the Cup.
Sveinsson had a great freshman season and earlier in the day was named a third-team All-American by Golfweek. He finished the year ranked 22nd in the NCAA Scoreboard rankings with a stroke average of 70.25 which is third best in school history behind Sam Burns (2016-17) and Kleen (2024-25). He posted 27 rounds of par or under with a win and five top five finishes.
Sveinsson won the Blessings Collegiate in Fayetteville at 7-under par 209 (71-67-71), finished second at the Fallen Oak Invitational and T3 on two other occasions. He was named second team All-SEC. He finished fourth in his first NCAA Regional at 4-under 206 (72-68-66). He posted an 82.3 win percentage against the field.
The opening ceremonies for the 2025 matches were to be held later on Wednesday evening at which time the coaches of the two teams would announce their pairings for Thursday’s mixed matches.
Live scoring for the event can be found at Golfstat.com.
About the Arnold Palmer Cup
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players. The Palmer Cup has been played at some of the world’s greatest courses, including The Old Course at St. Andrews, The Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Baltusrol, The Honors Course, Cherry Hills, and Lahinch. Beginning with the 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club, the Palmer Cup is the only major tournament that features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.
Since its inception, over 245 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours; 46 have represented Europe/International or the USA in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or Solheim Cup and more than 95 have claimed over 435 victories on the PGA, DP World, LPGA, or Ladies European Tours. The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 15-12-1.