TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
It has been one of Garrett Runion’s themes since last week that at the end of events like the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, “it always comes down to one or two shots.”
For LSU, it came down to just one shot to make the top 15 first cut of the championships on Sunday at the OMNI La Costa Resort course. And the Tigers were on the wrong side of that cut.
For the second time this weekend, LSU posted an even par round of 288 to finish the 54 holes at 13-over par 877 Sunday, tied for 16th with Wake Forest and one shot behind defending champion Northwestern, which fired a 6-over 294 to hold on to the 15th spot at 12-over par 876.
The news was better on the individual side. LSU senior Taylor Riley birdied the 18th hole in regulation to shoot 69 and finish 54 holes at even par 216 (72-75-69). That put her in a playoff for the last of nine individual spots for players not on the top 15 teams to play in Monday’s final round. She joined Sheridan Clancy of Indiana and Macy Pate of Wake Forest in a playoff that started on the 16th hole.
On the second playoff hole, the par 4 17th, Riley hit her drive left onto a dirt path and hit it 20 yards. Her third shot left her short of the green on the uphill ridge in front of the putting surface. Pate was in close for par after hitting out of the bunker, and Clancy had a long birdie putt. Riley lifted the ball onto the green, and it rolled into the cup for par, starting a celebration among the LSU fans for Riley, a San Diego native who showed her best scrambling. Pate made her putt and Clancy two-putted for par.
On the par 4 18th, all three players had birdie putts as sunset came and went, but all three two putted. Going back to the par 3 16th in the darkness, all three found the green and two putted before the playoff was called for the evening after 8 p.m. California time.
Play was scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. central time Monday with the winner advancing to play in the fourth round of the Championships to determine the individual winner. Riley is in a tie for 28th place, moving up 36 spots in the standings with her four-birdie 69 Sunday in front of family and friends.
“There were a lot of different emotions,” Riley said after her birdie on 18 and before the playoff. “I had a lot of family and friends out watching, so I just tried to smile through every single shot and just give it my best. I hit a lot of the middles of greens out here. That’s kind of what you need to do to play good and then sneak in some birdies. I just tried to give it my best swing on every single shot. I had one little bogey that kind of makes me mad, but that’s all right. Really proud to finish it like that. I felt really good on my putting today, which was nice and easy.”
As a team, the Tigers were looking for a chance to get back into the top 15 for the sixth straight year. But the final overall number did not go as high as expected, moving only from plus 10 to plus 12 on the board. LSU was as high as 17-over par (4 over on the round Sunday), but battled back in the end and had opportunities to tie it. Riley and LSU senior Elsa Svensson birdied the final hole to pull LSU back to even par for the day and +13 for the tournament.
“I’m proud of the fight. That’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Runion said. “They gave it everything they had and gave us a chance. At the beginning of the week, we always talk about it – it always comes down to one, and most of the time we’re on the right side of that one. Unfortunately, this time we are not, but I’m proud they gave us a shot.”
Runion looked back on LSU’s accomplishments of the season.
“There were a lot of positives,” he said. “One is for getting here and that is always an accomplishment. Two was the first round (even par 288) and setting a school mark for a first round score in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the second day in tough conditions, we let too many get away from us. But in the third day, they gave us a chance.”
The Svensson birdie gave her a final round of even par 72, and she finished tied for 44th at 2-over par 218. LSU also counted a 1-over 73 from Francesca Fiorellini and a 2-over 74 from Riley Knaub.
“We had two seniors that finished up with a birdie on the last hole, and the good news is we had two sophomore and a freshman see this place,” Runion said. “So for the future, getting more experience out here is certainly going to helpful. It stings right now. We have some sad ladies over there, but it was a good effort today.”
The final round will be televised streaming by Babygrande on GolfChannel.com before Golf Channel over-the-air coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. central time. Live scoring will be available at Scoreboard.Clippd.com.
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