LSU women’s golf makes first cut in the NCAA championship tourney

LSU’s women’s golf team, despite its best player struggling to find her game, made the three-round cut Sunday in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

LSU posted an 8-over 296 for a 54-hole total of 20-over par 884 (296-292-296). The Tigers are 11th and will be one of the 15 teams of the original 24 to make the final round on Monday. The top eight team scores after Monday’s round will move on to the match play round which begins Tuesday.

The Tigers are just three shots out of the eighth spot held by Florida State at 17-over 881. LSU will play Monday with 10th place Oregon and 12th place South Carolina beginning at 12:55 p.m. CDT.

Maybe it bodes well for the Tigers they are still in striking distance despite the fact sophomore All-American Ingrid Lindblad has yet to shoot par.

 Lindblad, who entered this tourney ranked No. 2 by Golfweek and No. 3 by Golfstat among NCAA players, is tied for 70th  at 9-over 225 with rounds of 74-76-75.

The Tigers’ best golfer so far, who’s in tie for 33rd place, is freshman Carla Tejedo Mulet. She’s at 4-over 220 after shooting a 4-over 76 in the third round.

Latanna Stone’s 1-over 73 put her in a tie for 41st at 5-over 221. Alden Wallace, who after a double bogey early on Sunday then birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to get back to even par at the turn, finished even at 72. She’s tied for 54th at 7-over 227.

Kendall Griffin is tied for 75th at 10-over 226 after Sunday’s 4-over 76.

Only three Tigers so far have had a round under par or par in the first three days.

“We really haven’t made a lot of putts,” LSU coach Garrett Runion said. “We are still getting used to reading putts in the desert, but I just want us to come out (Monday), be ultra-confident, try to fight to the end and see what happens.”

While this is the second time LSU has been in the championship since the present format of medal play and match play combines to determine the champion. This will be the first LSU women’s team to go to the final round and has it has been proven in college golf, the three-shot margin from LSU to the present eighth place score can change in a heartbeat.

“Three shots can change in one hole,” Runion said. “We’ve just got to put our heads down and focus on what we do and be us and don’t try to be anything other than what we are, and we should be alright. I still think our best is yet to come.”

Stanford is the runaway team leader at 18-under par 846, 20 shots ahead of Duke. Ole Miss, Auburn and South Carolina from the SEC are also in the final 15 for Monday.

The individual title will be decided on Monday and Stanford’s Rachel Heck is at 10-under 206, five shots ahead of teammate Angelina Ye.

Monday’s round will also mark the beginning of the live coverage on The Golf Channel beginning at 4 p.m. CDT. The coverage will also be available streaming on the NBC Sports app, NBCsports.com and Golfchannel.com. Live scoring is available during the round at Golfstat.com.

LSU Individual Totals
T33 Carla Tejedo Mulet 73-71-76 — 220 +4
T41 Latanna Stone 77-71-73 — 221 +5
T54 Alden Wallace 73-78-72 — 223 +7
T70 Ingrid Lindblad 74-76-75 — 225 +9
T75 Kendall Griffin 76-74-76 — 226 +10

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