Tiger Rag High 5: LSU’s all-time best in combined men’s and women’s golf and tennis

David Toms, the TIger Rag High 5 winner as LSU's best-ever combined men's/women's golfer is a two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time first-team All-American. PHOTO courtesy of LSU sports information

Welcome to the fifth and six categories of our Tiger Rag High Five, the best combined men’s and women’s golfers and combined men’s and women’s soccer players.

A 15-member media panel with a collective 582 years of sports journalism experience picked LSU’s five best athletes, coaches, moments, and individual game and season performances in 21 categories covering all present and past sports.

Voters on the panel were provided information of six to 10 nominees and were asked to rank one through five. The panel voters could also write-in their own candidates.

Scoring was tallied as 5 points for a first-place vote, 4 for second-place, 3 for third-place, 2 for second place and 1 for last-place. Ties were not broken.

Best combined men’s/women’s golf

LSU has won five NCAA men’s golf national championships (the last in 2015), more than any other SEC school. The men have also won 16 SEC titles. LSU women’s golf has never won an NCAA championship and won its only SEC title in 1992 in Baton Rouge.

The winner of the best-ever LSU combined men’s and women’s golfer is. . .

David Toms 71 points (13 first-place votes)

Toms is a two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time first-team All-American. He’s also LSU’s career leader in wins and top 10 finishes.

This season is his 33rd year as a pro in 2020. His resume speaks volumes –13 PGA tour victories including the 2001 PGA championship, the 2018 U.S. Senior Open and lifetime earnings of $41,901,709 which ranks 17th all-time.

But the best part of about Toms is he has never forgotten his roots.

In 2003, he created the David Toms Foundation in Shreveport. It has raised and donated more than $3.7 million to local organizations, specifically those with programs to help underprivileged, abused and abandoned children.

Then in 2013, the foundation created the David Toms Golf Academy 265 where underprivileged and at-risk youth learn important life lessons through the sport of golf.

“I know I’m blessed to have the talent to play this game and be in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion,” Toms said. “You’re always tested in life. But I really believe the Good Lord does that for a reason. It makes you appreciate the good times even more.”

Sam Burns 37 (1)

2017 NCAA and SEC Player of the Year

John Peterson 28

2011 NCAA champion with second best LSU career scoring average

Jenny Lidback 26

1986 NCAA women’s Player of the Year winning seven individual titles

B.R. McClendon 23 (1)

Only three-time SEC champion (1965-66-67) in league history

Tennis

LSU’s men’s tennis has never won an NCAA title but has won two SEC regular season championships (back-to-back in 1998 and 1999) and five SEC tournaments (the last also in 1998 and 1999). The Tigers’ women’s tennis has never won an NCAA or SEC regular season championship or the SEC tournament.

The winner of the best-ever LSU combined men’s and women’s tennis player is. . .

Donni Leaycraft 61 (9)

LSU record holder for career and season wins remains only Tigers’ men’s player to win an NCAA singles title (1989)

Megan Falcon 46 (2)

LSU’s only three-time (men or women) singles All-American

Steve Faulk 40 (3)

LSU’s first-ever first-team All-American (1970), SEC No. 1 singles champion

Fernando Perez 26 (1)

The Tigers’ first-time SEC champion in No. 1 singles

Ken Skupski 25

LSU’s only four-time first-team All-SEC selection, fourth in career wins

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