April 7, 2013
The final round of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational has come to a close, with Arizona State (296-293-280-869) jumping two positions on the day to finish in 12th-place overall. Freshman Jon Rahm led the charge for the Sun Devils, barely missing a top-ten finish, ending tied for 11th.
Jon Rahm, who tied with seven other golfers, used his second-straight under par round to climb from 24th, where he started Sunday's final round. Coming off a round of 68 on Saturday, Rahm followed it up with a two-under par round of 69, finishing at one-under par and missing out on another top-ten finish by one stroke. He had three birdies on the day, including back-to-back on holes three and four. He completed the last 36 holes with seven birdies to only two bogies.
Another freshman, Trey Ka'ahanui, used a brilliant final round of three-under par 68 and leaped his way from his starting position of 42nd all the way into a tie for 22nd at one-over par. Playing as an independent, Ka'ahanui recorded back-to-back birdies on holes three and four and also ten and eleven, on his way to recording a birdie on six over the final 18 holes. Another Sun Devil individual, Spencer Lawson, shot one-over par for the second-straight round and finished tied for 25th at two-over par.
Climbing 12 spots on the leaderboard in Sunday's final round was Max Rottluff, who also concluded tied for 25th at two-over par, finishing alongside his teammate Lawson. Rottluff shot a third round of one-under par, notching birdies on back-to-back holes on 12 and 13.
Another Sun Devil who made a move through the final 18 was Brandon Cloete, who gained 20 positions from Saturday, concluding his tournament tied for 30th at three-over par. Cloete was aided by his third round of three-under par 68, showing much promise and building momentum towards the spring's remaining tournaments. Like Ka'ahanui, Cloete also birdied six holes on the day.
Other ASU competitors, Austin Quick, Jin Song and Mathias Schjoelberg, finished tied for 47th, 58th and 64th-place respectively.
Thirteenth-ranked UNLV took home the tournament's top prize, inching out first-ranked Cal by one stroke. New Mexico, who entered the day with the lead, finished seven strokes behind in fourth-place.
Nick Chianello of Oregon State held the lead after every round, including the final one when it mattered most. He finished at 11-under par, one stroke ahead of second-place Scott Fernandez of Iowa State and Brandon Hagy of Cal.
Arizona State has one remaining tournament before the Pac-12 Championship, as they travel to San Jose, Calif., on April 13-14 for the Western Intercollegiate.