Sun Devil Jon Rahm, who will be a junior at Arizona State next season with two honorable mention All-America honors in his possession, clinched the Palmer Cup for Europe with a 4 and 2 victory against Wyndham Clark over the weekend, continuing the strong tradition of Sun Devils playing well in the match play event.
Clark won the first hole but Rahm evened the match the next hole. Rahm took a brief lead a thru 7 but Clark won the next with birdie. Rahm took the lead for good winning back-to-back at Nos. 9 and 10. He moved to 3-up after both 12 and 14 and closed the match out at No. 16.
2014 PALMER CUP RESULTS FOR JON RAHM
FIRST-ROUND FOUR BALL RESULTS, Match 2--Thomas Detry/Jon Rahm, Europe def. Trey Mullinax/Robby Shelton, USA, 2 and 1
Detry and Rahm defeated Trey Mullinax and Robby Shelton, 2 and 1, in their opening match. Europe took brief leads after Nos. 3 and 5 but the U.S. responded by winning the following holes to keep the standing at all square. Europe took the lead for good after the seventh hole and held a 3-up advantage for most of the back nine.
SECOND-ROUND FOUR BALL RESULTS, Match 6--Thomas Detry/Jon Rahm Europe def. Brandon Hagy/Ollie Schniederjans, USA, 3 and 2
Thomas Detry and Rahm claimed their second match of the day for Europe with a 3 and 2 victory over Brandon Hagy and Ollie Schniederjans. Detry birdied the first hole and Team Europe led wire-to-wire. Rahm won Nos. 3 and 5 with birdie to push the lead to 3-up but Team USA cut the lead to 1-up thru No. 9. Europe claimed No. 12 to get back to 2-up and closed the match at No. 16.
THIRD ROUND SINGLES MATCHES, Match 12 (Saturday)--Robby Shelton, USA def. Jon Rahm, Europe, 1-up
The American winning streak extended to three matches when Robby Shelton defeated Jon Rahm, 1-up. Rahm claimed the first hole with birdie and led most of the match. His lead moved to 2-up thru No. 4 before Shelton evened the match with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. Rahm would reassert control taking the 12th and 13th. Shelton closed the match by winning the final three holes.
ABOUT SUN DEVIL JON RAHM
Rahm won the 2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational in March with a record-breaking 21-under 192 and led the nation for the second straight year with 12 eagles after notching nine in his freshman season. He will enter his junior season of 2014-15 with three tournament wins, a 71.13 stroke average in 27 career events and 31 rounds in the 60s. The Spaniard has posted par or better in 47 of 83 career rounds. This past season his 70.84 stroke average was the best by a Sun Devil since Niklas Lemke shot 70.03 in 2006-07. He also averaged 3.06 on par-three scoring, best by a Sun Devil since Chez Reavie averaged 3.05 in 2003-04. Rahm earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2013-14 and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2012-13. He shot a NCAA Championship opening-round record of 61 on May 28, 2013.
SUN DEVIL IN THE PALMER CUP
From 2003-06, Sun Devil graduate Alejandro Canizares (B.I.S., 2006) earned All-America honors four times , including first-team in 2003 and 2006. He posted 22 top-10 finishes, won six college events including the 2003 NCAA title in his freshman season. The Spaniard went 13-3 in his Palmer Cup career, including an 8-0 mark in singles.
Clark won the first hole but Rahm evened the match the next hole. Rahm took a brief lead a thru 7 but Clark won the next with birdie. Rahm took the lead for good winning back-to-back at Nos. 9 and 10. He moved to 3-up after both 12 and 14 and closed the match out at No. 16.
2014 PALMER CUP RESULTS FOR JON RAHM
FIRST-ROUND FOUR BALL RESULTS, Match 2--Thomas Detry/Jon Rahm, Europe def. Trey Mullinax/Robby Shelton, USA, 2 and 1
Detry and Rahm defeated Trey Mullinax and Robby Shelton, 2 and 1, in their opening match. Europe took brief leads after Nos. 3 and 5 but the U.S. responded by winning the following holes to keep the standing at all square. Europe took the lead for good after the seventh hole and held a 3-up advantage for most of the back nine.
SECOND-ROUND FOUR BALL RESULTS, Match 6--Thomas Detry/Jon Rahm Europe def. Brandon Hagy/Ollie Schniederjans, USA, 3 and 2
Thomas Detry and Rahm claimed their second match of the day for Europe with a 3 and 2 victory over Brandon Hagy and Ollie Schniederjans. Detry birdied the first hole and Team Europe led wire-to-wire. Rahm won Nos. 3 and 5 with birdie to push the lead to 3-up but Team USA cut the lead to 1-up thru No. 9. Europe claimed No. 12 to get back to 2-up and closed the match at No. 16.
THIRD ROUND SINGLES MATCHES, Match 12 (Saturday)--Robby Shelton, USA def. Jon Rahm, Europe, 1-up
The American winning streak extended to three matches when Robby Shelton defeated Jon Rahm, 1-up. Rahm claimed the first hole with birdie and led most of the match. His lead moved to 2-up thru No. 4 before Shelton evened the match with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. Rahm would reassert control taking the 12th and 13th. Shelton closed the match by winning the final three holes.
ABOUT SUN DEVIL JON RAHM
Rahm won the 2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational in March with a record-breaking 21-under 192 and led the nation for the second straight year with 12 eagles after notching nine in his freshman season. He will enter his junior season of 2014-15 with three tournament wins, a 71.13 stroke average in 27 career events and 31 rounds in the 60s. The Spaniard has posted par or better in 47 of 83 career rounds. This past season his 70.84 stroke average was the best by a Sun Devil since Niklas Lemke shot 70.03 in 2006-07. He also averaged 3.06 on par-three scoring, best by a Sun Devil since Chez Reavie averaged 3.05 in 2003-04. Rahm earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2013-14 and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2012-13. He shot a NCAA Championship opening-round record of 61 on May 28, 2013.
SUN DEVIL IN THE PALMER CUP
From 2003-06, Sun Devil graduate Alejandro Canizares (B.I.S., 2006) earned All-America honors four times , including first-team in 2003 and 2006. He posted 22 top-10 finishes, won six college events including the 2003 NCAA title in his freshman season. The Spaniard went 13-3 in his Palmer Cup career, including an 8-0 mark in singles.