South Carolina senior Mathilde Claisse picks up first college win at Darius Rucker

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Clinging to a one-shot lead late Wednesday afternoon at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, South Carolina senior Mathilde Claisse pushed her tee ball into the right rough on the par-4 finishing hole at Long Cove Club. With no groups behind her and LSU freshman Edit Hertzman, her closest competitor by three shots, in the clubhouse, Claisse sized up her shot. One-hundred-and-fifty-one meters. Decent lie. An easy 5-iron. No, a hard 6. Her adrenaline was pumping. Gamecocks head coach Kalen Anderson told her player to aim 5 meters left of the flag and set up the stress-free, winning two-putt. “But in the corner of my mind,” Claisse admitted later, “I was like, ‘Just f— it.’ … I didn’t play the pin, but I played 2 meters left. Yeah, I was kinda aggressive.” Claisse’s ball started right at the flag and barely left it, landing short and right of the hole before bounding to about 15 feet. An easy two-putt after all. And Claisse’s first college victory, prompting her teammates to rush the green and douse her with water while chanting, “Tilly! Tilly! Tilly!” “It’s really hard to find the words,” Claisse said. “On my last putt on
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