LSU women’s golf reigns victorious over the SEC for the first time since 1992 at the SEC Championship held at the Greystone Country Club’s Legacy Course in Hoover, Alabama.
Ingrid Lindblad, also won LSU’s first individual SEC championship since 1991 on Friday as she continues her Annika Award campaign.
Lindblad, who broke LSU’s record for individual golf wins on March 27, added another notch to her belt as she claimed the SEC’s individual title with her ninth collegiate win.
This specific victory for Lindblad holds significance to her even beyond the record books, as she notched second place in this tournament last season. Now, she avoids last year’s fate and further etches her name in LSU’s history books.
“Last year, I shot 64 in the final round and came up three shots short,” Lindblad said. “I really played well and I wanted to come back and get some revenge. Today, I got some revenge.”
Her revenge came as she turned in a final score of six-under, 66 and outlasted Auburn’s Megan Schofill, who nearly tied Lindblad one-stroke behind at nine-under par.
Lindblad remains in the midst of a three-match win streak, as she also won four of her last five tournaments, with her only faltering at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Lindblad also tied Latanna Stone two weeks ago for second at The Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The last LSU player to win the SEC individual championship was Kristi Coats in 1991. Coats shot 224 to win the event in Lexington, Kentucky.
Beyond Lindblad, Carla Tejedo Mulet finished tied for 18th, Stone finished tied for 24th, Elsa Svensson finished tied for 30th and Jessica Bailey finished tied for 36th. Only Lindblad remained under, posting a neat red score 10-under, 206.
Despite Lindblad dominating the show for the individual tournament, LSU’s run for the title came through on performances from Stone and Tejedo Mulet, who have both played well in past tournaments.
“Obviously it was an unbelievable week,” said Coach Runion. “When I think about this week, I really think about all the players before. The SEC has a slogan, ‘It Just Means More.’ It really does, so it makes me think about all the players before that helped us get to this point. We had a lot of former players calling and texting and coming out here. It was a great week that they will never forget. I certainly won’t.”
LSU beat out Auburn for first place, even though golfers Schofill and Mychael O’Berry finished in the Top-10. Schofill finished second, while O’Berry finished tied for sixth.
Lindblad’s dominant streak gave LSU the edge in this tournament, and she stayed consistent as LSU captured its first SEC Championship under Head Coach Garrett Runion. Stone and Tejedo Mulet showed their skill and performed well alongside Lindblad as LSU prevailed.
With that said, LSU needed to jump some hurdles. While Golfstat ranked LSU as the No. 15 team in the nation before the championship match on Sunday, fellow SEC rivals ranked above them. The tournament also showed 11th ranked Florida, 10th ranked Texas A&M, ninth ranked Alabama and third-ranked South Carolina.
LSU faced the six seed Alabama team in the semifinals after defeating seventh-seeded Vanderbilt. The Tigers routed the Tide with a match play score of 3-1-1.
LSU took on the Florida Gators during the championship match play, and with Lindblad’s winning streak on their side and fellow junior Stone coming fresh off a tied for second place at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, gave the Tigers an advantage allowing them to hold the domain over the SEC.
“I had a lot of fun out there this week,” Lindblad said. “But to win and play good the last day is always something special.”
