LSU Women’s Golf Sits In Third Heading Into The Final Round Of The Betsy Rawls Invitational

Tiger Rag News Services

It was a day when cold and gusty winds made life miserable for the 16 teams at the University of Texas Golf Course in the opening day of the Betsy Rawls Invitational.

Scores soared in the first 18 holes of a 36-hole day of play and battling constant winds that made the scoring average for the 90 players at almost 12-over par, it became as much a mental battle as it was the ability to make shots.

But the Tigers kept battling and after grinding to a fourth-place spot after one round, LSU was able to get it around the par 72 course in just 5-over par in the afternoon and stands in third place going to the final round on Tuesday. One golfer for eight teams, including LSU, failed to finish their final hole before darkness and will complete the second round on Tuesday morning.

Here's where we're sitting through round ✌️

Sitting in third with Elsa still leading the way 👑 pic.twitter.com/YoIrDTGeTB

— LSU Women's Golf (@LSUWomensGolf) March 17, 2026

LSU grad student Elsa Svensson birdied the final two holes of the first round (the first and second holes of the golf course) to get in at 2-over 74 and the lead after 18 holes.

The native of Sweden posted a 2-under par 70 in the afternoon round which concluded in the twilight to hold the lead at even par 144 (74-70).

Svensson was 4-over for the opening round after a bogey on the 18th hole (her 16th of the round) before the birdies on the par 4 1st and par 3 2nd holes to conclude the round. She started the afternoon round with a birdie on the par 4 third hole to go to +1 for the tournament through 19 holes.

The native of Sweden bogeyed the 7th and 8th holes but birdies on the 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th holes on the course got her into red figures for the round and she was able to remain on the lead as the day concluded.

Svensson leads Farrah O’Keefe of Texas, who is at 1-over par after 35 holes. O’Keefe had an opening round of 75 and is 2-under with the 18th hole to play on Tuesday. Texas has golfers in the third and fourth spots as well with Cindy Hsu in third at 4-over par 148 and Lauren Kim in fourth at 5-over par 149.

With first round scores affected by the weather conditions, LSU posted a 32-over 320 in the opening round, but played a very strong second round which is now at 5-over with one score to register. LSU stands in third in the competition at 37-over par.

Host Texas is the tournament leader at 17-over par, with Arkansas finished in second at 32-over 608 (316-292), five shots in front of the Tigers in third. Oklahoma is five more shots back at 42-over par 618 (317-301), with Pepperdine another two shots back in fifth at 44-over 620 (326-294). Both Oklahoma and Pepperdine are finished through 36 holes.

In the wind blown first round besides Svensson’s 74, Josefin Widal had a 7-over 79, Francesca Fiorellini 80 and Edit Hertzman an 86.

In the second round to go with Svensson’s 70, Taylor Riley counted with a 1-over 73 and Widal had a 78. Fiorellini is at even par for the round with the 18th hole to finish from her second round. She is 9-over for the tournament and in a tie for 13th place for the sophomore.

The average score in the second round on the 6,387-course layout came in at just below 79, five shots better than the opening 18-hole average with 11 scorecards still to be finished.

LSU is fourth in the field on par 3s at 33.8 and par 4s at 442. The Tigers are second in the field with 18 birdies on the day and T4 with 99 pars.

Svensson leads the field in par 5 scoring at 4.63 and tied for first in par 4 scoring at 4.05. She leads the field with nine birdies.

The final round is set for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start with live scoring at Scoreboard.clippd.com.

Betsy Rawls Invitational
Austin, Texas – University of Texas Golf Course
Second Round Team Results (Par 288-576)
(Note 11 players did not finish their second round).
1 No. 7 Texas – 304 – +1 — +17
2 No. 9 Arkansas – 316-292 – 608 +32
3 No. 33 LSU – 320 – +5 — +37
4 No. 31 Oklahoma – 317-301 – 618 +42
5 No. 10 Pepperdine – 326-294 – 620 +44
6 No. 47 Oregon State – 321 – +13 — +46
7 No. 42 TCU – 323-305 – 628 — +52
8 BYU – 338 – +15 — +65
9 Boise State – 331-303 – 644 +68
10 Sam Houston – 329 – +31 — +72
11 UTSA – 337-317 – 654 +78
T12 Houston Christian – 337 – +37 — +86
T12 Harvard – 337-325 – 662 +86
14 Chattanooga – 340-324 – 664 +88
15 Troy – 352 – +33 — +97
16 Incarnate Word – 354 – +48 — +114

Individual Top 5 (Par 72-144)
(11 players did not finish second round)
1 Elsa Svensson, LSU – 74-70 – 144 E
2 Farah O’Keefe, Texas – 75 – -2 — +1
3 Cindy Hsu, Texas – 76-72 – 148 +4
4 Lauren Kim, Texas – 75-74 – 149 +5
T5 Raya Nakao, Oregon State – 75-75 – 150 +6
T5 Sara Brentcheneff, Arkansas – 79-71 – 150 +6

LSU Scores
1 Elsa Svensson – 74-70 – 144 E
T13 Francesca Fiorellini – 81 – E — +9 (still to finish 18th hole 2nd rd.)
T24 Josefin Widal – 79-78 – 157 +13
T33 Lucia Iraola – 82-78 – 160 +16
T47 Taylor Riley – 91-73 – 164 +20
T63 Edit Hertzman – 86-82 – 168 +24