Las Vegas, Nev. – At one-under thru 17, World Amateur No. 1 Jon Rahm holed a hard-breaking 12-foot eagle putt to enter the clubhouse tied for the first round lead, Monday afternoon at the 2016 Southern Highlands Invitational. The Sun Devil senior who carded a day one, three-under, 69 looks to capture his first individual title at the event, having finished tied for second in Vegas during the 2015 spring season. The 2015 Ben Hogan Recipient currently holds a share of the lead with UNLV’s Taylor Montgomery and Florida’s Sam Horsfield.
Propelled by strong outings from the aforementioned Rahm and fellow senior Alberto Sanchez No. 6 Arizona State posted a cumulative three-over 291, placing Tim Mickelson’s squad atop the leaderboard. The Maroon and Gold currently hold a one-shot lead over No. 1 Illinois, No. 4 Southern California, and No. 40 SMU.
Nogales, Arizona native Alberto Sanchez finds himself in contention with Rahm after firing a two-under 70. At two-over thru nine, the senior rallied recording birdies on the par-4, 1st and par-4, 5th, while eagling the par-4, 4th.
Rahm and Sanchez closed the round as two-of-eight players in the field of 78 to finish the day under-par.
Junior Jared du Toit who is coming off consecutive top-10 finishes at The Prestige and Amer Ari Invite, closed the round with a three-over 75.
Rounding out the Sun Devil starting five, senior Max Rottluff carded a 5-over, 77 while junior Ki Taek Lee finished at 10-under, 82.
Play resumes tomorrow as the Sun Devils paired with No.1 Illinois and No. 14 Oklahoma State are slated to tee off at 9:40 PT/10:40 MT. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.com.