Illinois tumbles to 10th in NCAA Columbus Regional but second-year player Yurang Li still within striking distance for a comeback finish to possibly qualify for NCAA Championships.

May 6, 2025

Mother Nature had her say on the 2025 NCAA Columbus Regional as cold, windy and wet conditions on an already tough 18-hole track created a highly volatile moving day.

The unfortunate aspect for Illinois women’s golf program is they were caught in the explosive native of Tuesday’s conditions that caused scores to skyrocket and pars to be at a premium. The Illini went from two shots out of the fifth and final transfer spot to eight shots back of getting into their second ever NCAA Championship field.

In order for Illinois to make a dramatic final-day comeback, Renee Slone’s program will be on the opposite side of the course of the leaders as they’ll start the day teeing off on the back nine at 7:55 a.m. on Wednesday.

The early morning conditions in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday morning saw wind consistently sit between 12 and 15 miles per hour while temperatures never got above 55 degrees and persistent rain didn’t stop from 8 a.m. to when the final groups finished in the afternoon. You mix those difficult weather conditions with what was already going to be testing pin placements and the 6,319-yard, par-72 track saw scoring averages rise over four shots per player on Tuesday. The leading team score on Monday (9-under-par by Ohio State) was 14 shots better than the leading team score on Tuesday (5-over-par by Kansas).

Illinois didn’t post single score under 75 on Tuesday and their 22-over-par score of 310 saw them tumble three spots down the team leaderboard to 10th place at 24-over-par.

The top five team scores and the best individual player not on a qualifying team qualify for the 2025 NCAA Championships in at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Second-year talent Yurang Li is still within striking distance of being the low individual on a non-qualifying team as that mini tournament now sees her chasing Houston’s third-year player Moa Svedenskiold. The Cougars junior from Uppsala, Sweden posted one of the four scores under par on Tuesday to allow her 1-under-par 71 to bolt nine places up the individual leaderboard and put her at 2-under-par 142 and just three shots behind the overall individual medalist leader as Kansas sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh sits at a 5-under-par total following a brilliant 2-under-par 70 that saw three consecutive birdies on holes No. 14-16.

Li, who posted the lowest round for the Illini on Monday with a 3-under 69, saw her second round get off to a roller coaster start of double bogey-birdie and a front-nine 39. However, in the middle of the blustery conditions, Li managed to play the final nine holes at 2-over to salvage a 5-over 77 on Tuesday. Li will tee off Wednesday four shots back of Svedenskiold for the right to move on to California for the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Beyond Li, the depth of the Illini lineup were unable to find enough pars to post a competitive team score on Tuesday as Illinois’ remaining three qualifying scores included 24 bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.

Nothing symbolized how the conditions created golf’s version of a scoring chaos on Tuesday better than what happened to Ohio State and Louisiana State, which are two nationally-ranked programs and perceived contenders to advance.

The host Buckeyes led all teams by three shots on Tuesday morning after posting a 9-under-par 279 in the opening round. However, that lead is nothing short of history as Ohio State posted just one score better than 4-over-par 76 on Tuesday and their 15-over-par 303 saw them tumble three spots down the team leaderboard as they now sit two shots behind No. 2 overall ranked and top-seeded Arkansas for the team title.

LSU was three shots beyond a tie for final team transfer spot on Monday evening but a 21-over-par 309 saw them post a team score of 25 shot difference to see a national Top 10 program fall below the top five transfer spots to the NCAA Championships. None of the five players on the LSU roster posted a single birdie until the sixth hole on Tuesday.

The car crash golf element of high scores on Tuesday allowed the University of Nevada at Las Vegas to fill the cinderella role of this NCAA regional tournament. UNLV, which got into this field after winning a playoff to win the Mountain West Conference Championship, posted the second-best team score of the day (5-over-par 293) to find themselves just one shot behind Arkansas for the team regional title.

Illinois will be chasing Southern Methodist for the final transfer spot as the Mustangs have significantly rebounded from a disappointing 14th place finish in a 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. SMU, which has been led by Texas transfer Emily Odwin, saw its four qualifying scores on Tuesday play the final seven holes of competition at even-par to be one stroke ahead of LSU and Kent State for that critical fifth place finish.

Odwin, who was the first Barbadian to qualify for both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls Junior in the same year before attending college, is two strokes behind Kansas’ Louderbaugh for the individual medalist race.

NCAA Columbus Regional Team Scores
No. 2 Arkansas - 282-298--580 (+4)
UNLV - 287-294--581 (+5)
No. 23 Kansas - 289-293--582 (+6)
No. 9 Ohio State - 279-303--582 (+6)
SMU - 289-303--592 (+16)
--------------- (Top 5 Teams Advance to NCAA Championship ---------------------
No. 10 LSU - 284-309--593 (+17)
Kent State - 287-306--593 (+17)
Houston - 295-301--596 (+20)
Xavier - 289-310--599 (+23)
ILLINOIS - 289-311--600 (+24)
Illinois State - 299-318--617 (+41)
Oakland - 311-325--636 (+58)

ILLINI SCORES
Yurang Li - 69-77--146 (+2)
Lexanne Halama - 73-76--149 (+5)
Brielle Mapanao - 74-80--154 (+10)
Anna Ritter - 73-81--154 (+10)
Victoria Zheng - 77-78--155 (+11)