After bombing yet another drive on the par-four, 17th hole, down the pristine fairways of Augusta National, Ingrid Lindblad was two strokes off the lead and had to birdie in, to tie the leaders and enter the playoff.
Lindblad stuck her approach within 25 feet of the hole. Not fully confident with her putting stroke on Saturday, Lindblad used her competitiveness to drain the birdie putt and cut the margin to one stroke with one hole to play.
It is the third round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) played at Augusta National. After a day where the entire field played a practice round on the sacred grounds, the iconic azaleas were in full bloom and every hole was picturesque full of history. History again was made at Augusta on Saturday: LSU sophomore Ingrid Lindblad became the first Tiger to compete in the second playing of the ANWA.
Mike Tirico, over the NBC broadcast, time after time highlighted that Lindblad was from Halmstad, Sweden, and now calls Baton Rouge home, and added a few additional echoes of her being one of the premier young women’s amateurs to watch.
Walking to the 18th tee, Lindblad was trailing Emilia Migliaccio of the United States (a senior at Wake Forest) and Japan’s Tsubasa Kajitani. The 18th hole at Augusta National, nicknamed Holly, has heavily guarded fairway bunkers that are daunting for any player. Lindblad, who showed quite the comfort with her long club on Saturday elected to play the right side of the fairway which was not protected with bunkers. She had roughly 140 yards to the green, which should have been a great number to hit it tight to the flag.
However, Lindblad’s ball was sitting in the second-cut, semi-thick rough, that altered the ball flight that was left short, forcing her to chip in to enter the playoff. At this time on Saturday, there were numerous spectators and previous Master’s winners spectating around the green and thousands of viewers at home watching anxiously.
Lindblad seemed to have acknowledged the nearby leaderboard and knew what had to be done. Adding the pressure to her shot, she pulled the chip to the right and left herself with a tough down-hill putt to save par and a tie for third.
“I mean, it was tough out there,” Lindblad said after the round.  “Even if you hit the green, it’s not a given two-putt. I’ve experienced that on the back nine today. And I mean, it’s tough out there and then you see the leaderboard and you’re like, ‘oh, I’m only one back or I’m leading by one.’ So, it’s a lot of thoughts like outside the golf — the whole golf experience.”
The par putt found the bottom of the cup and Lindblad jolted her fist. Although she did not make the playoff, she had just shot a three-over, 75, at the revered Augusta National course.
“It was awesome out there,” Lindblad said of the experience. “The course is amazing. We had a great time. I’m just happy to be here because I know not many people get to be here and the whole experience is awesome.”
The third round on Saturday was the only round that receive national televised coverage. The prior two rounds were played at the Champions Retreat on Augusta National grounds, but not at the attention-grabbing championship course.
Linblad will return to Baton Rouge and have no time off. The sophomore is still a top-name on the ANNIKA Award watch-list as the season comes to an end.
The purple and gold will host the LSU Invitational at the University Club golf course in Baton Rouge on Tuesday and Wednesday.