Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s athletics department.
BATON ROUGE – Current LSU Tiger Aine Donegan will be one of 28 amateurs who will tee off Thursday in the 2023 United States Women’s Open, being played for the first time at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
Also, former Tiger star Madelene Sagstrom, looking for a spot on Europe’s 2023 Solheim Cup team, will also be in the field.
Donegan, who will be a junior this fall at LSU, will make her U.S. Women’s Open debut after shooting 3-over par 145 at a 36-hole qualifier on June 5 in San Mateo, California. Donegan, a native of Ireland, advanced to match play in The Amateur Championship in England in June and is coming off a successful individual effort for Great Britain and Ireland in the Vagliano Cup in Scotland last Friday and Saturday.
Donegan, who was part of LSU’s team that won four events last season and made a third straight NCAA Championship appearance, has had a good week getting ready for the championship including a practice round on Tuesday with Sagstrom and golf superstar Annika Sorenstam.
“It is so exciting,” Donegan, who is ranked 144 in the world women’s amateur rankings, said earlier this week. “I am so grateful to be here at such a special place like Pebble Beach. It is so amazing to be here and be among the best players in the world.”
After making match play at The Women’s Amateur, she made the semis in the Irish Women’s Close Championship before her play in the Vagliano Cup between GB&I and Europe which featured her teammate, Ingrid Lindblad. Donegan beat Lindblad in a singles match in the final round.
Donegan earned All-SEC honors with a stroke average of 72.97 with third place finishes at the Green Wave Fall Classic (-10 206) and at the SEC Women’s Championship (-2 214).
Sagstrom, whose rookie year on the LPGA tour was 2017, is presently ranked 32 on the Rolex World Rankings and is in position to make the European team for the Solheim Cup this fall. A good finish this weekend would certainly help her chances to make the team for a third time.
The Swedish star has one career win on the LPGA Tour with 15 career top 10s and over $3.4 million in earnings. This will be her seventh appearance in the U.S. Open with her best finish, T17, in 2018.
Donegan will tee off in the fourth group of the day off the 10th tee at Pebble Beach Thursday at 9:33 a.m. CT while Sagstrom will be in the afternoon wave at 4:02 p.m. off the first tee. Those tee times will reverse on Friday as Sagstrom will go off in the morning wave and Donegan in the afternoon wave.
There will be unprecedented streaming and television coverage of the event on Peacock, USA Network and NBC.
Thursday and Friday will feature coverage on Peacock from 3-5 p.m. and then USA Network will have primetime coverage from 5-10 p.m. CT. Saturday and Sunday will be live on NBC from 2-8 p.m. CT.