Clemson’s Isabella Rawl at the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. (Photo: Clemson Athletics)
No team all day Friday was better than Clemson, and that’s in big part thanks to Isabella Rawl.
The sophomore finished runner-up at the ACC Championship last month, but that was her only top-10 finish of the season. One wouldn’t have guessed that after her start in the biggest event of the year.
Rawl carded eight birdies against two bogeys to shoot 6-under 66, and she sits a shot behind leader Lottie Woad and helped Clemson card an 8-under total as a team in the first round. In addition to Rawl’s 6 under, Annabelle Pancake shot 3 under and Melena Barrientos 1 under for No. 16 Clemson.
Of teams in the morning wave, Clemson had the best round by six shots. The Tigers lead Texas A&M by one after the opening round, and four shots separate the Aggies from a group of teams sitting at 3 under, including top-ranked Stanford.
However, Clemson’s start is the kind of performance that help get teams into match play come Tuesday.
The 280 the Tigers’ carded is the lowest gross score in school history, and Rawl’s 66 is the lowest NCAA Championship round in school history.