April 9, 2011
TEMPE- The Arizona State men's golf team is in sixth place at 8-over par 576 (284-292) after 36 holes of weather-challenged golf on Saturday at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. The final round of the 13-team tournament, held at ASU Karsten Golf Course (par 71/7,057 yards), will be played Sunday.
The Sun Devils were in second place with an even-par 284 after the first round behind the play of senior Scott Pinckney, who carded seven birdies en route to a career-low 5-under par 66.
Pinckney, who is making his fourth appearance in the event and tied for third as a sophomore in 2008-09, is tied for seventh at 2-under par 140 (66-74) and trails the leader by three strokes. He recorded a 3-over par 74 in the second round.
Senior Jesper Kennegard shot an even par 71 and a 1-under par 70 on the day to tie for 11th at 1-under par 141 (71-70). Also competing in his fourth Thunderbird Invitational, he tied for third in the tournament as a freshman in 2007-08 and sits four strokes back from the leader.
The shot of the day came in the second round from senior Oscar Zetterwall, who sank a hole-in-one on the 16th hole. He is in a tie for 22nd at 2-over par 144 (71-73) following an even par 71 in the first round and a 2-over par 73 in the second.
Senior Thomas Buran shot a 76 and 75, respectively, and is tied for 59th at 10-over par 151 (76-75). Junior Spencer Fletcher, competing in his third Thunderbird Invitational, is in 75th with a 19-over par 161 (85-76).
USC is in the lead at 10-under par 558 (287-271), while CSU Northridge's Nick Delio is the individual leader at 6-under par 137 (72-65).
Last year, ASU finished in a tie for eighth at 4-over 856 as Kennegard and Knut Borsheim tied for 24th at even par. Washington claimed the team championship, while San Diego State's J.J. Spaun was crowned individual champion.
ASU has won seven of the past 12 (1999-2001, 2003-2004, 2008-2009) Thunderbird Invitational Tournaments and has won the event 14 of the past 22 years.
Live scoring of the third and final round, beginning at 7 a.m., will be available on golfstat.com.
THE FIELD: Arizona State, No. 18 Cal, Colorado State, CS Northridge, Florida State, Northwestern, Pepperdine, No. 10 San Diego State, San Jose State, UC Irvine, UNLV, USC and Washington State (rankings based on March 27 Golfweek poll).
ANOTHER SET OF RANKINGS: Three teams competing in this weekend's ASU/Thunderbird Invitational are ranked in the March 21 GOLFWORLD/Nike poll as San Diego State is seventh, California 17th and USC 25th. ASU is just behind USC, ranked 26th.
ASU WINNERS: Fourteen ASU teams have won the Thunderbird Invitational, with ASU winning the title in 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009.
PAST ASU INDIVIDUAL WINNERS: Eight Sun Devils have won the individual titles on nine occasions, with Phil Mickelson (1991 and 1992) the only multiple winner. Other Sun Devil individual winners include Mark Sollenberger (1974), Jim Carter (1984), Larry Barber (1994), Todd Demsey (1995), Jeff Quinney (2000), Paul Casey (2001) and Alejandro Canizares (2003), Stephan Gross (2009-shared).