By Cal Aboud, SDA Media Relations Student Assistant
Friday proved to be moving day for the Arizona State men’s golf at the Amer Ari Inviational, as Tim Mickelson’s squad catapulted eight spots from their first round positioning of T-12, to pull to T-4. Recording the team low-round of the afternoon, the Sun Devils finished a cumulative 17-under, 271, trimming 19 strokes off their round one score of 290.
Each member of the Sun Devil starting five posted rounds under par. Junior Jared du Toit paced Arizona State carding a five-under, 65. The British Columbia native, who recorded six birdies to just one bogey on the day, sits in contention heading into the final round at six-under and in tenth place.
A day removed from shooting a 3-over, 75, Sun Devil senior Max Rottluff responded firing a five-under, 67. After opening round two with a bogey on the par-4 10th, Rottluff not only played bogey-free golf from then on, but notched six birdies, placing him tied for 27th, at two-under.
Jon Rahm a model of consistency on the links, is yet again in contention. The senior who in four tournaments during the fall season never finished outside of the top-10, while earning his eight career victory at the Tavistock Invitational (Oct. 18-20), seeks to once again finish on top, closing with a four-under, 68. Rahm is tied for 11th and four shots off the lead heading into the final round.
Rounding out the Sun Devil starting five was Alberto Sanchez and Ki Taek Lee. Sanchez quickly adjusted, after opening with bogeys on the 10th and 12th, going five-under for the remainder of his round to finish at 3-under, 69. Lee also had a nice outing recording a two-under, 70. Lee is positioned at tied for 37th, while Sanchez seeks to continue to move up the board, tied for 46th.
Putting himself in great position heading into the final day, was Tobias Eden who is competing in the tournament as an individual. The sophomore who had an up and down outing in round two, persevered finishing at one-under 71. He sits tied for 22nd, at three-under.
Nicolo Galletti who is also competing as an individual carded a six-over, 78.
Play is slated to conclude tomorrow, beginning at 7:30 a.m. HAST/10:30 a.m. MST with a shotgun start. Live scoring for the Amer Ari Invitational will be available at golfstat.com.
| Position | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 10 | Jared du Toit | 71 | 67 | -6 |
| T-11 | Jon Rahm | 71 | 68 | -5 |
| T-22 | Tobia Eden* | 70 | 71 | -3 |
| T-27 | Max Rottluff | 75 | 67 | -2 |
| T-36 | Ki Taek Lee | 73 | 70 | -1 |
| T-46 | Alberto Sanchez | 76 | 69 | +1 |
| T-100 | Nicolo Galletti* | 75 | 78 | +9 |
* Denotes Players who are competing as individuals
PAST SUN DEVIL SUCCESS: The program has had recent success at the event, winning the 2015 team title with a 38-under 826 (277-278-271). Past Sun Devil individual medalists at the Amer Ari include, Jesper Kennegard (2009), Chris Hanell (1996), and Todd Demsey (1994). Arizona State also won the team title in 1995.
TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND: The tournament is hosted at the par-72, 7,074-yard Waikoloa Kings’ Course and features a stacked 19-team field including: No. 15 Arizona State, No. 1 Auburn, California Davis, Colorado, CSU-Monterey Bay, Georgia Tech, Hawaii-Hilo, Hawaii-Manoa, No. 12 Oklahoma State, No. 32 Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin, Pacific, San Jose State, Southern California, No. 5 Stanford, Texas Christian, No. 33 Texas Tech, and No. 29 UCLA (Golfweek).
FALL RECAP: Arizona State rolled into the spring season coming off a strong fall campaign. In four tournament appearances the Sun Devils posted a cumulative 49-5-1 record, finishing third at Olympia Fields to open the season, following with second-place finishes at the Jackrabbit, Alister MacKenzie, and Tavistock respectively.