BELLEAIR, Florida – LSU sophomore Francesco Fiorellini led the Tigers on the opening day of the Southeastern Conference women’s golf tournament at the Pelican Golf Club here Friday.

Fiorellini had 13 pars and one birdie in a 3-over round of 73 on the par 70, 6,292-yard venue.

LSU as a team posted a 16-over round of 296 and is tied for 15th after the first of three days of stroke play competition among the league teams. The top eight after Sunday will advance to match play.

“We were not at our best out there (Friday),” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion. “But there are two more rounds and 36 holes to fight our way back up the standings.”

The Tigers also counted 4-over 74s from senior Taylor Riley and sophomore Rocio Tejedo and a 5-over 75 from freshman Ryleigh Knaub.

Vanderbilt, ranked 14th, and No. 4 Texas A&M are tied for the lead at 4-under par 276, one shot ahead of No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Texas and No. 21 Ole Miss at 3-under 277. No. 6 Arkansas is the other team under par in sixth place at 2-under 278. No. 16 Mississippi State and No. 27 Oklahoma are tied for seventh at even par 280.

The course played at a just under two shots over par at 71.90 for the 18 holes.

The highlight for the Tigers were on the two par 5s the 7th and 14th holes in which LSU played in five under par, tied for second in the field behind only Tennessee at 6-under par.

Individually, 20 golfers posted rounds in the 60s, led by Ole Miss’ Mary Miller, Avery Weed of Mississippi State and Vanessa Borovilos of Texas A&M, all with 4-under rounds of 66. Paula Francisco of Florida, Reagan Zibilski of Arkansas and Carys Worby of Auburn all are tied for fourth at -3 67.

The Tigers will be again off the 10th tee in the second round starting at 8 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found at Scoreboard.clippd.com.

SEC Women’s Golf Championship
Belleair, Florida – Pelican Golf Club
First Round Team Results (Par 280)
T1 Texas A&M – 276 -4
T1 Vanderbilt – 276 -4
T3 Florida – 277 -3
T3 Texas – 277 -3
T3 Ole Miss – 277 -3
6 Arkansas 278 -2
T7 Mississippi State 280 E
T7 Oklahoma 280 E
9 Auburn 283 +3
T10 Tennessee – 284 +4
T10 South Carolina – 284 +4
12 Missouri – 288 +8
13 Kentucky – 288 +8
14 Georgia – 295 +15
T15 LSU – 296 +16
T15 Alabama – 296 +16

Top 5 Individuals (Par 70)
T1 Mary Miller, Ole Miss – 66 -4
T1 Avery Weed, Mississippi State – 66 -4
T1 Vanessa Borovilos, Texas A&M – 66 -4
T4 – Paula Francisco, Florida – 67 -3
T4 – Carys Worby, Auburn – 67 -3
T4 Reagan Zibilski, Arkansas – 67 -3

LSU Scores
T46 Francesca Fiorellini — 73 +3
T57 Rocio Tejedo – 74 +4
T57 Taylor Riley – 74 +4
T66 Ryleigh Knaub – 75 +5
T75 Elsa Svensson – 77 +7