Jan. 29, 2013
The first tournament of the 2013 spring season is in the books for Sun Devil men's golf, capturing a fourth-place finish in the Arizona Intercollegiate from Vistoso Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz. Freshman Max Rottluff led the charge for ASU, finishing tied for third.
Arizona State entered Tuesday's final round tied for first-place after the team posted an incredible second round across the board, but slipped in the final round, as they finished at a combined one-under par 851 through 54 holes of play (290-275-286-851). They shot two-over par Tuesday, but were only seven strokes off fifth ranked New Mexico's mark of eight-under par.
For the Sun Devils, it was all about their young freshman talent. Rottluff surpassed the expectations of all, as he recorded all three rounds under par, which was 71. His scorecard of (68-69-70-207) was good enough for six-under par to tie him for third after coming into Tuesday tied for second.
Freshmen Jon Rahm Rodriguez and Alberto Sanchez followed up the lead of fellow-freshman Rottluff, as the top three ASU finishers were all freshman.
Coming off his individual victory in the fall season's finale, Rahm Rodriguez bounced back after a four-over par first round to shoot a combined three-under par over the final 36 holes. In Tuesday's final round he shot two-under par, and finished with a line of (75-70-69-214), good enough for 13th-place.
Sanchez also struggled in the first round after shooting a round of 76, but climbed his way though the field to finish tied for 14th at two-over par (76-68-71-215).
Junior Spencer Lawson finished tied for 18th at three-over par (71-68-77-216), while Brandon Cloete, in his first tournament as a Sun Devil, finished tied for 24th at six-over par (73-73-73-219).
Five Arizona State golfers finished in the top-25 in a field of over 90 golfers.
TCU took home second place at six-under par, while no. 1 ranked Cal placed third at five-under par.
Sun Devil golfers will be in action again Feb. 6-8 for the Amer Ari Invitational from Waikoloa, Hawaii.