No. 3 Gamecocks Advance at SECs, Play Suspended

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — No. 3 South Carolina leads in two matches, trails in one and is tied in the other two vs. No. 9 Alabama late in the quarterfinals of SEC Match Play. Play was suspended due to darkness late on Friday.
 
Quarterfinal matches, which were supposed to take place on Saturday, were moved up to today because of impending severe weather moving into the area. There was a shotgun start for the field at 10 a.m. (ET) this morning.
 
A pair of freshmen in Louise Rydqvist (3-up) and Hannah Darling (2-up) both lead by multiple holes in their matches. The Gamecocks’ junior tandem from France, Mathilde Claisse (thru 14) and Justine Fournand (thru 15) are both all-square in their matches down the stretch. Fournand trailed by two and battled back to tie her match at the turn. Claisse’s match has been back-and-forth the entire way and has been tied for eight of her 14 holes.
 
Sophomore Paula Kirner, who has a bulk of experience in match play, was subbed into the lineup after stroke play ended late this afternoon. She trails by two thru 14 holes.
 
The winner between the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide faces the winner of No. 14 LSU and Vanderbilt. The Tigers put the first point on the board already and lead in three other matches.
 
SEC Match Player Quarterfinals
Justine Fournand (SC) vs. Emilie Overas (ALA), AS thru 15
Mathilde Claisse (SC) vs. Angelica Moresco (ALA), AS thru 14
Louise Rydqvist (SC) vs. Isabella van der Biest (ALA), 3-up thru 14
Paula Kirner (SC) vs. Benedetta Moresco (ALA), 2-down thru 14
Hannah Darling (SC) vs. Polly Mack (ALA), 2-up thru 13
 
Carolina took third in the stroke play portion of the tournament to advance to match play for the fourth time in four seasons of the new format (started in 2018) earlier in the day. The Gamecocks carded an even par 288 in the final round.
 
Rydqvist continued her standout play, pacing Carolina with a 3-under 69. She was bogey free until a four on her last hole, the difficult par-3 second. Rydqvist T-6^th to earn her third top-10 of the season in what was her SEC Championship debut.
 
Darling also picked up another top-10, her team-best sixth of the season as she shot even par (72) in round three to finish the tournament at 1-over. Claisse shot 73 (+1) and T-15^th at 3-over and Fournand carded a 74 (+2) to T-15^th with Claisse and Celina Sattelkau of Vanderbilt.
 
The Gamecocks were the only team in stroke play with four players in the top-20 of the final individual leaderboard.
 
Graduate transfer Tai Anudit shot 76 (+4) in the final round and T-36^th at 9-over for the tournament. She had a trio of birdies but was hurt by a pair of double bogeys in her round.
 
LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad came from behind to win medalist honors. She shot a field-best 66 (-6) in the final round today. Lindblad trailed by one heading into the par-5 18^th hole and sunk a 30-foot eagle putt to win.
 
2022 SEC Women’s Golf Championship R3 Leaderboard
1. No. 20 Auburn – 864 (E)
2. No. 14 LSU – 866 (+2)
3. No. 3 South Carolina – 867 (+3)
4. No. 23 Ole Miss – 876 (+12)
T5. No. 10 Florida – 880 (+16)
T5. No. 9 Alabama – 880 (+16)
7. No. 40 Vanderbilt – 881 (+17)
8. Tennessee – 887 (+23)
9. No. 11 Texas A&M – 892 (+23)
10. No. 27 Georgia – 893 (+29)
T11. No. 29 Mississippi State – 895 (+31)
T11. No. 22 Kentucky – 985 (+31)
13. No. 19 Arkansas – 899 (+35)
14. Missouri – 921 (+57)
 
2022 SEC Women’s Golf Championship R3 Gamecock Leaderboard
T6. Louise Rydqvist – 216 (E)   
T9. Hannah Darling – 217 (+1)
T15. Justine Fournand – 219 (+3) 
T15. Mathilde Claisse – 219 (+3)
T36. Tai Anudit – 225 (+9) 
 
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