March 7, 2025 • by Dan Davies / Photographs: Auburn Athletics, Andy Mead (Arkansas), Darren Carroll (ASU), Stanford Athletics/Brian Brownfield
LSU clinches Darius Rucker title on tie-breaker... Auburn hits the top with dominant performance in Vegas... Stanford women win fifth straight stroke play title of season... ASU up to #2 with successful defence of Cabo Collegiate title
LSU survived wet and windy conditions to land the 2025 Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in a tie-breaker with hosts South Carolina. The two teams finished on 11 over par, four ahead of third placed Arkansas.
After two delays for rain, LSU took the title with the lowest combined drop scores: at 15-over par, Coach Garrett Runion’s were a single shot better than South Carolina (below). It was the Tigers’ second win in this prestigious event in three years and a 15th team victory for their Head Coach.
LSU made its move on the back nine at Long Cove on Hilton Head Island. Their 2-over-par 286 was the best score of the final day, and helped the Tigers to overcome nine teams ranked ahead of them.
“We didn’t have our best finish last week [at the Moon Golf Invitational],” Coach Runion told the LSUSports website. “I told them it’s how you respond and they responded very well here, and I mean this is a major. This is almost a tour event. You look at all the people here, the Golf Channel. This is a big one. This is a special one to win and certainly gives us confidence going into the postseason.”
Kendall Todd of Arkansas (above) and Louise Rydqvist of South Carolina (below) tied for medalist honors on one under par. It left them one shot clear of a trio of players — Lauren Kim (Texas), Aine Donegan and Josegin Widal (both of LSU).
Team Leaderboard | Individual Leaderboard | Tournament Stats
Reigning National Champions Auburn hit the jackpot in Vegas, beating 12 top-50 teams to land the Southern Highlands Collegiate by 10 shots from hosts UNLV and reclaim the No.1 spot in the rankings. Last season, Auburn won 10 tournaments, including seven straight, climaxing with the win at La Costa.
The Tigers completed the 54 holes in nine-under-par (855) to win by 10 shots and score their first strokeplay win of the season. Four of the five Auburn players finished the tournament inside the top 15.
“We’d yet to really put it into high gear and play at our best this season, and I think this tournament is a sign of that, physically and mentally,” Head Coach Nick Clinard told the AuburnTigers website. “Hopefully this is the first domino to fall and push us on an upward trajectory as we get rolling deeper into the spring. I’m proud of the efforts of all five guys this week.”
UNLV’s fifth-year senior Caden Fioroni won the individual title on nine under par, two shots better than Auburn’s Carson Bacha, who has been his team’s top performer in the last three tournaments and is up to #17 in the rankings. With the win, Fioroni rose 53 places and is now at #18.
Team Leaderboard | Individual Leaderboard | Tournament Stats
No.1 ranked Stanford went five for five in strokeplay events this season, winning the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational by eight shots from a strong Oregon team, who came into the event ranked #3. Coach Anne Walker’s team shot a closing team score of 11 under par to set a new tournament scoring record on 29 under.
Stanford’s Paula Martin Sampedro (below) Karen Tsuru of Oregon and USC star freshman Jasmine Koo were co-medalists on 13 under par.
Koo (below) rose to the top of the women’s rankings with her fourth tournament victory of the season. She shot a bogey-free 65 (-7) to tie Sampredo (up to #8), who claimed her second win of the season, and Tsuru, who makes a big jump to #38. The Oregon sophomore began the spring season ranked #184.
Three other Stanford players — Kelly Xu, Megha Ganne and Meja Ortengren — also finished inside the top-10.
Team Leaderboard | Individual Leaderboard | Tournament Stats
Arizona State defended its title at the Cabo Collegiate, going wire-to-wire to win at 15 under par. Coach Matt Thurmond and his players landed a second consecutive tournament victory by finishing five shots ahead of Oklahoma State in a field that contained five other top-25 teams. The Sun Devils move up a place to #2 in the rankings.
Florida State finished in third, 14 shots behind the winners, but had the consolation of celebrating Tyler Weaver’s first individual title. The English sophomore ended the 54 holes tied with ASU’s Fifa Laopakdee (below) on three under par, one shot ahead of OSU’s in-form Preston Stout.
Weaver took the title in a three-hole playoff to earn an exemption to November’s World Wide Technology Championship. Laopakdee, a sophomore from Thailand, was ranked #341 coming into the event but is now up to #59.