April 16, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The sixth-ranked Arizona State men's golf team won the 28th annual Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational, held at the ASU Karsten Golf Course (par 72, 7,027 yards) and senior Paul Casey took home medalist honors this afternoon.
Casey sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to win with a 9-under 207 (69-69-69) as he held off Arizona Wildcat Derek Gillespie, who shot a 8-under 208, including a 68 on Sunday. Casey triple-bogeyed the par-4 No. 13, but came back to get a birdie on the next hole and birdied the final hole to clinch the individual honors and give ASU a two-shot team win.
ASU shot a 281-286-279=846 (-18) and the Wildcats shot 283-287-278=848 (-16) to finish in second. Fresno State (282-287-281) was third at 14-under 850, while New Mexico finished fourth at 10-under 854 (288-280-286). Golfweek had the Sun Devils sixth in its most recent poll, with UNLV No. 8, Fresno State No. 10 and Arizona No. 11. UNLV finished in ninth with a 2-over 866 (288-207-281).
Casey's individual title gives him five for his career, moving him up to a tie for fourth on the ASU career wins list with 1993 NCAA Champion Todd Demsey. Next on the list is Charlie Gibson, who won six titles from 1972-75, while four-time All-American Billy Mayfair won eight titles from 1985-88. Sun Devil legend Phil Mickelson leads the list with an amazing 16 wins from 1989-92, including two ASU Thunderbird titles in 1991 and 1992.
It also marked the second title Casey has won at Karsten, as he won the 1998 NCAA West Regional in Tempe with a 10-under 206 (70-65-71).
Senior Jonas Runnqust posted a 69-72-70=211 (-5) which tied for fifth, one of the best tournaments in his career.
Junior Jeff Quinney (Eugene, Ore.) shot a 68 in the opening round to lead the Sun Devils early. Quinney was trying to become just the second player to defend a Thunderbird title, as Mickelson won titles in 1991 and 1992 and is the only two-time winner of the 28-year old tournament. Quinney finished tied for eighth with a 4-under 212 (68-73-71), and was one of four Sun Devils to post a sub-par round on the final day.
ASU shot 30-under-par 834 last year in the Thunderbird en route to a 17-stroke win over UCLA and was led by Quinney's Karsten record 62 in the final round.
Sophomore Matt Jones shot a final-round 3-under 69 to finish at 1-over 217 (75-73-69) and tied for 25th. Jones shot 73-68-69=210 (-6) in the Las Vegas Intercollegiate on March 10-12 and finished at 76-69-73=218 (+2) to lead the Sun Devils last weekend at the U.S. Collegiate Championships in Mexico.
ASU now hosts the Pac-10 Championships on April 24-26 at Karsten Golf Course. ASU now has won five of the past seven Thunderbird tournaments and the past five Pac-10 titles, which is a conference record.
Thunderbird/SAVANE NOTES: A Pac-10 school has won the Thunderbird every year since 1989, as ASU has won titles in 1989, '90, '91, '92, '94, '96, '97, '99 and 2000, and Pac-10 foes Arizona (1993) and UCLA (1998) won the titles in years ASU could not claim the crownASU has won the Thunderbird title in five of the past seven yearsUCLA's Brandon DiTullio, who won the 1998 Thunderbird title as did UCLA, shot 7-over 223 (72-77-74) and tied for 58thStanford is the only Pac-10 team not represented at this year's ThunderbirdTCU's Brad Guetz posted a hole-in-one on the 209-yard No. 12 in the second round on Saturday.TCU's Steve Shuert shot a 65 on Sunday and finished with a 3-under 213Richard Sundgren of the Swedish National Team, who shot 69-69=138 (-6) and was tied for the lead after two rounds, shot a 78 and ended at even 216 for the tournament.
FINAL TEAM SCORES FROM ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational
(54 holes/par 288-288-288=864)
| 1. | Arizona State 281-286-279=846 (-18) |
| 2. | Arizona 283-287-278=848 (-16) |
| 3. | Fresno State 282-287-281=850 (-14) |
| 4. | New Mexico 288-280-286=854 (-10) |
| 5t. | Oregon 290-283-289=862 (-2) |
| 5t. | Swedish National Team 287-290-285=862 (-2) |
| 7. | TCU 295-288-280=863 (-1) |
| 8. | Oklahoma 291-290-283=864 (E) |
| 9. | UNLV 288-297-281=866 (+2) |
| 10t. | California 303-288-289=880 (+16) |
| 10t. | Oregon State 294-294-292=880 (+16) |
| 12. | ASU Maroon 291-298-293=882 (+18) |
| 13t. | UCLA 289-296-301=886 (+22) |
| 13t. | Washington 296-299-291=886 (+22) |
| 15. | USC 304-290-295=889 (+25) |
| 16. | Colorado State 302-297-292=891 (+27) |
| 17. | Washington State 303-297-303=903 (+39) |
Top Individual Scores (par 72-72-72=216)
| 1. | Paul Casey, ASU 69-69-69=207 (-9) |
| 2. | Derek Gillespie, Arizona 69-71-68=208 (-8) |
| 3. | Ricky Barnes, Arizona 71-70-69=210 (-6) |
| 4t. | Jonas Runnquist, ASU 69-72-70=211 (-5) |
| 4t. | Andy Doeden, TCU 72-69-70=211 (-5) |
| 4t. | Michael Kirk, UNLV 69-75-57=211 (-5) |
| 4t. | Jeremy Anderson, UNLV 73-70-68=211 (-5) |
| 8t. | Jeff Quinney, ASU 68-73-71=212 (-4) |
| 8t. | Scott Moore, Arizona 71-73-68=212 (-4) |
| 10t. | Matt Cohn, Oklahoma 73-71-69=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Steve Shuert, TCU 73-75-65=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Todd Rose, Fresno State 69-74-70=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Danny Paniccia, Fresno State 73-72-68=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Kevin Price, New Mexico 76-68-69=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Nick Watney, Fresno State 70-71-72=213 (-3) |
| 10t. | Michael Letzig, New Mexico 69-71-73=213 (-3) |
| 17t. | Par Nilsson, Sweden 69-72-73=214 (-2) |
| 17t. | Andrew Tredway, Oregon 75-69-70=214 (-2) |
| 17t. | Jason Semelsberger, UCLA 72-70-72=214 (-2) |
| 20t. | Ryan King, Fresno State 71-73-71-215 (-1) |
| 20t. | Tim Mickelson, Oregon State 71-73-71=215 (-1) |
| 20t. | Nigel Spence, Colorado State 74-68-73=215 (-1) |
Other Arizona State Scores: T25. Matt Jones, ASU 75-73-69=217 (+1), T83. Jin Park, ASU 80-72-79=231 (+15)
Arizona State Maroon Scores: T46. Shane McMenamy, ASU-M 74-76-71=221 (+5), T58. Chris O'Connor, ASU-M 73-73-77=223 (+7), T58. Brady Stockton, ASU-M 74-68-81=223 (+7), T62. Ryan Whitaker, ASU-M 73-81-70=224 (+8), T81. Tyler Erickson, ASU-M 71-84-75=230 (+14).
Arizona State Individuals: T46. Jason Hause 75-72-74=221 (+5), T46. Kurt Mayr 76-73-72=221 (+5)