Tiger Rag News Services
LSU senior Taylor Riley posted four birdies over her final nine holes to shoot what would be one of the day’s lowest rounds Sunday as the stroke play portion of the SEC Women’s Golf Championship concluded at Pelican Golf Club.
Riley posted a 3-under par 67 on the final day, one of six players in the field of 80 that posted 3-under par rounds.
The Tigers finished 13th at the SEC Championships ⤵️
— LSU Women's Golf (@LSUWomensGolf) April 19, 2026
Taylor Riley was LSU's top finisher at T31 pic.twitter.com/ZPKl6A2dKt
The San Diego native, whose mother, Michelle, played for the Tigers from 1995-1998, and whose Dad Chris was a PGA winner, Ryder Cup member and longtime men’s head coach at the University of San Diego, opened with nine straight pars on her first nine holes, 10 through 18 on the course.
Riley came to the front nine, her final nine of the event, and posted birdies on the par four first, the par 3 third and par 4 sixth hole. After a bogey on the lone par 5 on the side, the seventh, Taylor provided LSU excitement for the second straight day.
After Francesca Fiorellini on Saturday hit her approach shot over the green onto a large hill where the ninth tee is and proceeded to putt down the hill and then make a 25-footer for par, Riley hit her approach to the left of the flag at the edge of a slope. She took her putter and delivered a beautiful putt that rolled straight to the putt, hit the pin dead center and fell in for her fourth birdie of the side.
The round moved her up some 27 places in the final standings to 3-over par 213 at T31.
LSU finished in 13th place after a final round of 6-over 286 to finish at 24-over par 864 (296-282-286).
On the final day, LSU counted a 1-over 71 from Rocio Tejedo, a 3-over 74 from Elsa Svensson and a 5-over 76 from Francesca Fiorellini.
“We played much better the last two rounds,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion of his team going +8 over the final 36 holes. “We could have definitely folded after our struggles in the first round on Friday, but we showed our pride and fight over the last two rounds and came in with some numbers that we can grow on as we prepare for NCAA Regionals. We talked about that after the round. That shows that we are capable of scores that will be competitive in the regional. I reminded them that two teams that didn’t make match play in the SECs in the past has a month later been in the match play finals of the NCAA Championships.
“Taylor Riley, a senior in her last SECs, finished strong with those four birdies on the final nine holes. That was a great putt on the eighth hole from off the green.”
Statistically, Tejedo finished T7 in the field on the two par 5 holes at 3-under par. Riley led the team in birdies for the 54 holes with nine.
“We’ll go back to Baton Rouge Monday and get caught up on academics and our practice sessions and wait for April 29 to find out our NCAA regional location,” Runion said.
The regionals are May 11-13 and LSU will be assigned to one of the following sites: Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Stanford, California; Tallahassee, Florida; Waco, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama or Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Southeastern Conference Women’s Golf Championship
Belleair, Florida – Pelican Golf Club
Final Stroke Play Qualifying (Par 280-840)
Top eight advance to match play on Monday
1 Florida – 277-278-276 – 831 -9
T2 Texas – 277-273-287 – 837 -3
T2 Oklahoma — 280-272-285 – 837 -3
4 Auburn – 283-276-279 – 838 -2
5 Ole Miss – 277-279-284 – 840 E
6 Tennessee – 284-275-283 – 842 +2
T7 Texas A&M – 276-281-286 – 843 +3
T7 Vanderbilt – 276-278-289 – 843 +3
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9 Missouri – 288-279-277 – 844 +4
T10 South Carolina – 284-280-282 – 846 +6
T10 Mississippi State – 280-279-287 – 846 +6
T10 Arkansas – 278-278-290 – 846 +6
13 LSU – 296-282-286 – 864 +24
14 Kentucky – 289-288-288 – 865 +25
15 Georgia – 295-291-300 – 886 +26
16 Alabama – 296-295-297 – 888 +28
Individual Top 5 (Par 70-210)
1 Paula Francisco, Florida – 67-68-67 – 202 -8
T2 Mary Miller, Ole Miss – 66-66-72 – 204 -6
T2 Vanessa Borovilos, Texas A&M – 66-68-70 – 204 -6
T2 Farah O’Keefe, Texas – 68-67-69 – 204 -6
T2 Madison Messimer, Tennessee – 68-69-67 – 204 -6
LSU Scores
T31 Taylor Riley – 74-72-67 – 213 +3
T41 Francesca Fiorellini – 73-68-75 – 216 +6
T44 Rocio Tejedo – 74-72-71 – 217 +7
T61 Ryleigh Knaub – 75-70-76 – 221 +11
T69 Elsa Svensson – 77-75-73 – 225 +15
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