EUGENE, Ore. – The Arizona State men's golf team collectively authored a performance that displayed both its brilliance and toughness in the second round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Saturday.
After shooting a 10-over, 290 in Friday's opening round, the Sun Devils came back and improved their day one total by nine strokes, firing a nine-under, 281 at the par-70, 7014-yard Eugene Country Club. ASU's second-round total tied the fourth-lowest team total of the day and elevated it into a tie for ninth place (six spots up from Friday's tie for 15th) heading into Sunday's third round that will determine the 15 teams that will continue to play on Monday.
The Sun Devils' overall team total of 571 (+11) after two rounds has them tied with fellow Pac-12 member Cal. Only three strokes separate ninth place from fourth place (Oregon and LSU with team totals of 568/+8 are tied for fourth). Vanderbilt currently leads the way (563/+3), followed by USC (565/+5) and Arkansas (566/+6).
Senior and two-time Ben Hogan Award winner Jon Rahm continued to lead the way for the Sun Devils as he carded a two-under, 68. At the end of the day Rahm was tied for sixth place in the individual standings (four strokes out of the lead).
After posting round one individual totals that ranged between 71 and 78, the Sun Devils had only a five-stroke difference between their low (68) and high (73) stroke total on Saturday. Coming through with steady, solid outings were seniors Max Rottluff and Alberto Sanchez and junior Nicolo Galletti, who all shot a one-over, 71. Junior Jared du Toit was not far behind with a three-over, 73.
The Sun Devils took full advantage of starting out on what has proven to be the less-difficult portion of the course thus far: holes 1-9. Rahm would account for four of the team's eight birdies on the first nine holes. In fact, Rahm would make par or better on his first 10 holes. The same went for Rottluff's first eight holes and Sanchez' first 10 holes.
After showing off their brilliance on the front nine, the Sun Devils would show their toughness in navigating their way through the nine-hole portion of the course that has befuddled most of the field the first two days. After shooting over par 17 times on holes 10-18 on Friday, the Sun Devils had 10 such instances on Saturday. Although he had two bogeys, Galletti would more than make up for it as he had a team-high two birdies on the back nine and also had ASU's only eagle of the day. Sanchez would par all but the 11th hole. His lone blemish would not faze him as he did not surrender any extra strokes over the final seven holes. After bogeying two of his first four holes on the back nine, Rottluff would also show a similar resolve as he was one-under par over his last five holes.
The Sun Devils will resume play at the NCAA Championships on Sunday when they tee off the third round at 7 a.m. PT paired with Texas and Illinois, who are both tied for seventh place (570/+10). Live stats can be accessed at http://www.ncaa.com/2016-di-golf-leaderboard-men.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT...
At the completion of 54-holes of stroke play on Sunday, the top-15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will move on. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday.