Johansson Makes Second-Round Charge at LSU Tiger Golf Classic

BATON ROUGE, La. – Kentucky women’s golf’s two first-round leaders fell back to the pack on day two of the LSU Tiger Golf Classic, but a familiar face in Isabelle Johansson made a second-round charge Monday and finds herself in position for another strong individual finish.

Johansson fired the top UK round of the day Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., a 2-over par 74, to lead the Wildcats to a team score of 312. At one point in first place late in the first round, Kentucky has fallen back to the pack and is in ninth place at 44-over par. 

With one more round to go, which will take place Tuesday at the University Club in Baton Rouge, UK still has a shot at a top-five finish. Duke continues to lead the tournament at 8-over par with Blue Devil Celine Boutier leading the individual field for a second straight day at 5-under par.

“The golf course got the best of us today,” head coach Golda Johansson Borst said. “We struggled in finding the greens and didn’t have as many up-and-downs as we did yesterday. You really have to be confident in your swing out here and some of our girls had a hard time with that today. Despite this, they kept fighting for every shot and we are still within striking distance of beating some really solid teams.” 

The tournament concludes Tuesday with the second round at 9:30 a.m. ET. 

Johansson actually had one of the best rounds of the day going for her during the opening 18 holes before windy conditions on the back nine moved her off the leaderboard. With much calmer conditions Monday and a bounce-back attitude, Johansson played consistent throughout Monday’s round and moved up to a tie for 20th place.

At 9-over par overall, Johansson is seeking her team-leading fifth top-50 finish of the season. 

Johansson fired three birdies in the second round and has six for the tournament. With superior length off the tee, Johansson has feasted on the par 5s this week, shooting 3-under on par 5s, tied for third in the field. 

“I’m happy that Bella had a good day today,” Borst said. “She wanted to go low and take revenge on yesterday’s round and she did just that. I know Bella wanted to go even lower, but she came out with a good attitude and stuck to her game plan, which is vital out here.”

Junior Jordan Chael navigated her way to the second-best round of the day by a Wildcat. Though she was unable to record a birdie Monday, she started the day with eight straight pars and finished at 5-over par for the day and 13-over par overall. She’s in a tie for 44th.

Senior Cylia Damerau entered the day in a tie for fifth place, but after opening the second round with five straight pars, she recorded bogey or worse on eight of the final 13 holes and has fallen back to the pack and in a tie for 35th at 11-over par overall.

Freshman Anna Hack was in a similar position as Damerau, beginning the day in a tie for 11th, but the promising freshman was able to do a little better damage control with a second-day 79. At 10-over par, Hack is in a tie for 27th and in the hunt for her best career finish.

Sophomore Grace rose finished Monday in a tie for 87th place at 24-over par.

This week’s tournament is being held at the University Club in Baton Rouge. Playing as 6,237 yards and par 72, the course was recently redesigned and renovated under the guidance of PGA Tour pro David Tom and renowned golf course architect Jim Lipe. The challenging layout features wide fairways bordered by pine hammocks and native grasses, in addition to 2,000 feet of beautiful bulkhead.

In addition to four top-25 team and nine top-50 teams, this week’s field also features seven Southeastern Conference teams.