Lindblad wins third tourney title of her LSU career, but Tigers fade in final round

LSU sophomore golfer Ingrid Lindblad birdied three of the last four holes Sunday to capture individual medalist honors in the Liz Murphey Fall Collegiate Classic played at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens.

Lindblad’s final round 1-over 73, paired with his blistering opening round 8-under 64 and a struggling 3-over second round 75 put her at 4-under 212.

“Very excited for Ingrid as she played extremely well earning her third individual win,” LSU head coach Garrett Runion said. “It was jump started by her collegiate career low and women’s tournament course record of 8-under 64 that was very impressive. 

It was Lindblad’s first tourney win of the season and third of her career, tying her for the LSU career record for most tournament wins.

As a team, however, No. 4 ranked LSU was not as fortunate as No. 1 ranked South Carolina won its fourth tourney of the year, including three of four wins in the spring season.

The Tigers, which led the tourney after round one at even par, slipped to fourth place on Saturday with second round of 16-over and finished seventh in the 19-team field at 39-over par 903 after shooting 23-over in Sunday’s final round. Despite the slippage, LSU beat an impressive list of ranked teams finishing ahead of No. 12 Auburn, No. 13 Georgia, No. 19 Alabama, No. 22 Florida, No. 26 Vanderbilt, No. 36 Tennessee and No. 37 Louisville. 

“With cold temperatures and high winds, we struggled at the start of our second and third round but rallied both days on the back nine to pick up some key wins over some good teams,” Runion said.

By the time Lindblad teed off Sunday, the rest of the Tigers were already 19-over on the day and hadn’t even finished the front nine.

The other LSU scores in order of finish were senior Kendall Griffin (76-76-78) 14-over 230, and sophomore Latanna Stone (74-82-78) and freshman Carla Tejedo Mulet (74-74-83) both at 15-over 231.

Not among the Tigers’ top four scorers which counted in the team total was junior Presley Baggett (81-79-82) 26-over 242.

Up next for Lindblad is the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on March 31-April 3.

And next for LSU, it will host the LSU Tiger Golf Classic April 6-7 at University Club. It’s the final regular season tourney for the Tigers before they head into postseason play in the SEC Championships April 14-17 at Greystone Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala.