June 2, 2005
Tenth-ranked ASU shot a 5-over 285 and moved up from a tie for 21st to 11th at Thursday's second round of the 106th annual NCAA Men's Golf Championships held at the at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. The Sun Devils are at 16-over 576 (291-285), as their 285 was tied for the fourth-best round of the day. Georgia continues to lead the field with a 2-under 558 (274-284), but just nine shots separates ASU from second-place Tennessee and ASU is just two shots out of a four-way tie for fifth between UNLV, Duke, Georgia State and Washington.
Thursday's team action saw Georgia Tech shoot a 281 to move into third at 9-over 569 (288-281), USC shoot a 282 to move into fourth at 572 (290-282) while leader Georgia shot a 284. Both Washington and ASU shot 5-over 285.
Individually, sophomore Niklas Lemke again had the best Sun Devil round with an even-par 70 for the second straight day. He is currently tied for 15th.
Junior Alejandro Canizares, the 2003 NCAA champion and 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year, is at 4-over 144 (73-71) and tied for 37th, while Charly Simon is at 6-over 146 after shooting 73 for the second straight day and tied for 57th.
Senior Pat Moore, who entered the tournament with four straight top-10 finishes, is at 8-over 148 (75-73) and is tied for 84th. Moore won the U.S. Intercollegiate held at Stanford Golf Course April 16-17 with a 2-under 208 (71-70-67) and has finished in the top-10 in the past four tournaments. He also finished sixth at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational April 8-9 with a 1-over 214 (68-74-72), was third at the Pac-10 Championships April 25-27 in Walla Walla, Wash., with a 5-under 279 (67-67-69-76) and was fifth at the NCAA West Regionals May 19-21 at Stanford with a 1-under 209 (69-69-71).
Senior Jesse Mueller, the 2001 Arizona Amateur champion, is at 9-over 149 (78-71) and is tied for 96th.
Complete statistics and live scoring are available at www.golfstat.com.
The teams will play 18 holes on Friday before the field is cut to the top 15 teams for Saturday's final round in the 72-hole event.
There are six Pac-10 schools in the event (Arizona, ASU, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Washington), but defending NCAA champion California did not qualify for the 30-team field.
The Golf Channel is televising the final three rounds June 2-4 from 3-5 p.m. EST (Noon-3 p.m. in Arizona).
Both Moore and Canizares were chosen to the PING All-Pacific Region team this week, along with Travis Bertoni (Cal Poly), Andres Gonzales (UNLV), Rob Grube (Stanford), Ben Hayes (USC), Daniel Im (UCLA), Ryan Keeney (UNLV), Liam Kendregan (St. Mary's), Nathan Lashley (Arizona), James Lepp (Washington), Tyler Ley (USC), Henry Liaw (Arizona), Ryan Moore (UNLV), Alex Prugh (Washington), Michael Putnam (Pepperdine), Brendan Steele (UC Riverside) and Travis Whisman (UNLV).
Canizares also earned Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status. To be eligible for Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically and competed in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his teams competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 in Division I and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university. Canizares earned 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year honors, joining an impressive list of Sun Devils who have won the honor including Scott Watkins (1979 co-player of the year), Dan Forsman (1981 co-player of the year), Billy Mayfair (1987), three-time NCAA champion Phil Mickelson (1990, 1991 and 1992), 1993 NCAA Champion Todd Demsey (1994), three-time Pac-10 champion Paul Casey (2000) and 2000 U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney (2001 co-player of the year). The junior has won three tournaments in 2004-2005, with victories at the Big/Ten Pac-10 Challenge at Bandon Dunes, Ore., on Oct. 25-26, the Arizona/Ping Intercollegiate Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Tucson and the Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 27-March 1. He has a 71.64 stroke average in 13 events this year with five top-10 finishes. He also earned first-team All-Pac-10 for the second straight year after earning second-team honors and co-Freshman of the Year in 2002-2003. The native of Spain also gets it done in the classroom, as he has a 3.91 grade point average through the spring semester of 2005.
Top Five Teams and Pac-10 Schools NCAA Men's Golf Championships Caves Valley Golf Club/Par 70/7,129 yards
1. Georgia 274-284=558, -2
2. Tennessee 279-288=567, +7
3. Georgia Tech 288-281=569, +9
4. USC 290-282=572, +12
T5. Washington 289-285=574, +14
11. Arizona State 291+285=576, +16
12. Arizona 282-296=578, +18
24. Stanford 296-292=588, +28
30. UCLA 299-301=600, +40
Top Individuals/ASU players
1. Michael Putnam, Pepperdine 67-67=134, -6
T15. Niklas Lemke, ASU 70-70=140, E
T37. Alejandro Canizares, ASU 73-71=144, +4
T57. Charly Simon, ASU 73-73=146, +6
T84. Pat Moore, ASU 75-73=148, +8
T96. Jesse Mueller, ASU 78-71=149, +9