BELLEAIR, Florida – Mississippi State made two keys lengthy birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes within moments of each other to push the Bulldogs past the LSU Tigers in the semifinal match of the SEC Women’s Golf Championship here Monday afternoon at the Pelican Golf Club.
Mississippi State won the match, 3-1-1, over the Tigers and will play in the championship match on Tuesday morning.
Earlier in the day, the No. 4 ranked Tigers, the eighth and last seed to advance to match play on Sunday, knocked off top seed and No. 2 South Carolina, 3-2, to win its quarterfinal match.
It marked the fourth straight year that LSU has won a match in the match play competition and the fourth straight year that LSU has advanced to the semifinals. In 2021 the Tigers were SEC Champions, winning all three matches.
“I’m proud of the way our team fought to get into match play this week,” LSU Coach Garrett Runion said. “They then came out this morning and took out the No. 2 team in the country and played very well to reach semifinals for the fourth year in a row. I think we’re the only team in the SEC to say that we’ve won at least one match play match the past four years. I always say that I want a good program, not just a good team. To have a good program, you have to consistently be around it and we’ve been around it. The girls are extra sad for it being Ingrid, Latanna and Carla’s last SEC Championship and they didn’t want to go that way. Unfortunately, that’s golf. A putt here or a putt there and it flips fast.
“We are so proud of our seniors. They have meant so much and will always mean so much to this LSU Golf Program,” Runion said. “The records, the wins, just the people they are. There is still a lot of golf for this team to play in May and I know they will be ready to go.”
LSU won the first three matches of its quarterfinal play against Carolina as again the No. 1 seed after 54 holes of stroke play fails to advance to the championship match at the SEC event.
The Tigers in the South Carolina match got a point on the board quickly when Ingrid Lindblad went out and won 7&6 over Maylis Lamoure. Lindblad, the world’s No. 1 amateur, was 4-under par on her ball.
The second point came when LSU’s Carla Tejedo completely turned a match against World No. 16 Hannah Darling of South Carolina, 2&1. Darling was 3 UP in the match after the sixth hole, but Tejedo, in her final SEC Championship, won holes 7, 10 and 12 to get the match to All Square and then won the 13th hole with a par and the 15th hole with a birdie to go 2Up in the match. Tejedo ended the match with pars at 16 and 17 to win 2&1.
Taylor Riley got the clinching point in a back-and-forth match with Vairana Heck of the Gamecocks. Heck rallied to tie the match on the par four 12th where it stayed until the 15th when a par 3 won the hole for the sophomore and then a two-putt par on 17 clinched the individual match and sent LSU to the semifinals.
In the semifinal match, the two teams played much of the way in tight fashion except for Tejedo who showed some of the match play flash she showed in the 2021 SECs when she was 3-0 in match play. After winning in the morning, she took the lead for good of her match with Surapa Janthamunee of State on the sixth hole with a par 4 and then won 10, 11 and 12 with birdie, birdie par to go 4 Up in the match and halved the next three holes to win LSU’s lone point at 4&3.
The match was tied at 1-1 with the third match of Latanna Stone of LSU and Avery Week of Mississippi State on the green at 18 both with birdie putts and the match all square. Weed casually rolled in a 30-footer for her birdie and Stone was unable to match from about 18 feet giving State a 2-1 advantage.
As the all square fourth match between Lindblad and World No. 4 Julie Lopez Ramirez was walking to the green, Izzy Pellot of Mississippi State rolled in her birdie putt to win the 17th hole, ending the match with a 2&1 win over Aine Donegan.
Both Lindblad and Ramirez had birdie looks on 18, but the match was halted before Lindblad putted leaving the match a tie.
“I hope they use this as motivation going into regionals and hopefully nationals beyond that. I’m proud of the way Taylor fought and played her first match with a huge point for us early. Carla continues to be a match play master with two wins today. Ingrid had another solid tournament with a top 5 finish and win this morning,” said Runion.
The NCAA Golf Regional Round is May 6-8 at six different locations while the Championship moves to a new site at the Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa starting May 17.
SEC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Belleair, Florida – Pelican Golf Club
QUARTERFINAL MATCH
LSU 3, South Carolina 2
Carla Tejedo (LSU) d. Hannah Darling (SC), 2&1
Taylor Riley (LSU) d. Vairana Heck (SC), 2&1
Ingrid Lindblad (LSU) d. Maylis Lamoure (SC), 7&6
Mia Lussand (SC) d. Latanna Stone (LSU), 2&1
Louise Rydqvist (SC) d. Aine Donegan (LSU), 1UP
SEMIFINAL MATCH
Mississippi State 3, LSU 1, Tied 1
Carla Tejedo (LSU) d. Surapa Janthamunee (MSU), 4&3
Chiara Horder (MSU) d. Taylor Riley (LSU), 2&1
Avery Weed (MSU) d. Latanna Stone (LSU), 1UP
Ingrid Lindblad (LSU) vs. Julie Lopez Ramirez (MSU), All Square
Izzy Pellot (MSU) d. Aine Donegan (LSU), 2&1
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