Tigers Go Double Digits Under Par In Second Round Of Season Opening Cougar Classic
Taylor Riley (L) and Josefin Widal (R) with LSU Coach Garrett Runion at Monday's Cougar Classic. Riley and WIdal each posted 4-under 67 in the second round. (Photo by Britt Runion).
BATON ROUGE – Senior Taylor Riley and sophomore Josefin Widal helped LSU to a double digit under par team round to conclude first day play in The Cougar Classic at Charleston, South Carolina.
On the par 71 Yeamans Hall Course, Riley and Widal posted a combined nine birdies and just one bogey to shoot matching scores of 67 over the 6,279-yard venue. Both finished with matching 4-under 67s to close out the 36-hole day.
Widal posted a clean card of four birdies for her 67, moving up 29 spots in the individual leaderboard to stand at 2-under par 140 after 36 holes (73-67) at T19. Riley moved up 33 spots on the board after a five birdie, one bogey round to stand at 1-under 141 (74-67).
But the best overall day belonged to another Tiger sophomore, UCLA transfer Francesca Fiorellini, who posted back-to-back under par rounds of 70-69 to finish the two rounds at 3-under par and in a group tied for 15th place.
Fiorellini had three birdies and two bogeys in her opening round and had a clean card in the afternoon with two birdies. The Italian golfer played her last 28 holes in 4-under par on Monday.
The Tigers finished the 36 holes as a team at 6-under par 562 after rounds of 4-over 288 to begin the season and a strong 10-under par 274 in the afternoon. The 2024-25 team didn’t wait long to get its name on the record pages as the 10-under par is tied for the 13th lowest score for a single round in LSU women’s golf history and the 6-under par for 36 holes is tied for 18th best.
LSU in the opening round counted the 1-under by Fiorellini, a 1-over 72 by senior Elsa Svensson and 73s by Widal and senior Edit Hertzman. In the second round, after the under-par rounds of Widal, Taylor and Fiorellini, the final counting score of the round was an even par 71 by Hertzman.
The Tigers had the third lowest score of the second round and one of just four double digits under par rounds on the opening day.
LSU is sixth on the team board with a round to go on Tuesday at 6-under par with Tennessee the leader at 19-under par 549. The Vols posted rounds of 276-273. They are three shots ahead of Ole Miss at 552 with Clemson one back in third at 553.
LSU had 26 birdies on the day and leads the field in pars with 131.
Riley played the par fours in 3-under par, T6 in the field. Fiorellini had 29 pars, T4 in the field of 95 golfers.
The final round is set for a 7:45 a.m. shotgun start. Live scores available at Scoreboard.clippd.com.
The Cougar Classic
Charleston, South Carolina – Yeamans Hall Club
Second Round Team Results (284-568)
1 Tennessee – 278-273 – 549 -19
2 Ole Miss – 277-275 – 552 -16
3 Clemson – 280-273 – 553 -15
4 Florida – 273-284 – 557 -11
5 UCF – 282-276 – 558 -10
6 LSU – 288-274 – 562 -6
7 Boston College – 284-279 – 563 -5
8 Charleston – 286-278 – 584 -4
9 Virginia Tech — 287-279 – 568 E
10 Furman — 287-282 – 569 +1
11 Auburn – 291-283 – 574 +6
12 Penn State – 295-284 – 579 +11
12 Maryland – 287-292 – 579 +11
14 Miami – 292-288 – 580 +12
15 Georgia – 301-280 – 581 +13
16 NC State – 298-286 – 584 +16
17 Yale – 291-296 – 587 +19
18 Georgetown – 293-303 – 596 +28
Top 5 Individuals (Par 71-142)
1 Valentine Deion, Virginia Tech – 68-67 – 135 -7
2 Chanayu Chowiwattana, Maryland – 67-69 – 136 -6
2 Marie Madsen, NC State – 69-67 – 136 -6
2 Sofie Engesaeth, Tennessee – 69-67 – 136 -6
2 Kajsalotta Svarvar, Ole Miss – 70-66 – 136 -6
2 Tiffany Cao, Boston College – 70-66 – 136 -6
2 Sarah Uebelhart, Clemson – 70-66 – 136 -6
LSU Scores
T15 Francesca Fiorellini – 70-69 – 139 -3
T20 Josefin Widal – 73-67 – 140 -2
T28 Taylor Riley – 74-67 – 141 -1
T45 Elsa Svensson – 72-72 – 144 +3
T45 Edit Hertzman – 73-71 – 144 +3