The No. 11 Arizona State men’s golf team’s pursuit of its third NCAA title is slated to resume May 16-18 at the NCAA New Mexico Regional, led by 2015 Ben Hogan Award winner Jon Rahm who won the 2015 NCAA San Diego Regional and is coming off his Pac-12 title.
The No. 2 seeded Sun Devils will travel to Albuquerque, as announced May 5 on GolfChannel's Morning Drive. ASU will be trying for its 12 NCAA Championship finals appearance in the past 15 seasons and its 30th in the past 33.
Held at the par-72, 7.562-yard University of New Mexico Champions Course, participating schools will play 54 holes spanning three days of competition. The regional boasts an exceptional 14-team field that includes five programs ranked within the top-30. Joining ASU will be No. 3 USC, No. 15 South Florida, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 27 Texas A&M, No. 34 N.C. State, No. 39 New Mexico, No. 46 Texas Tech, No. 53 Texas Christian, No. 59 Iowa, No. 64 Liberty, Army, Cleveland State, and Wagner (Ranking via Golfstat.com). The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals.
√ @littleJRmaza has 38 eagles in his 158-round career...so yeah, one every 4.15 rounds. @BenHoganAward @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/Acd4YKnaPp
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) May 5, 2016
Fifth-year head coach and 2015 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Tim Mickelson leads the Sun Devils, who won the 1996 team title under 2008 National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee and Pac-12 Golf Coach of the Century Randy Lein and also won the 1990 title under 2002 Sun Devil Hall of Fame and 2009 NGCA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Loy.
A VERY GOOD MONTH: Jon Rahm was named the April Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Month and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors for 2015-16. He punctuated a spectacular month with medalist honors at the Pac-12 Championships where he posted a 12-under 272 (70-66-68-68) to become the first Sun Devil to win the individual title since Paul Casey in 2000. He entered the final round six strokes off the lead, but battled strong winds to card a 3-under 68 to post the 10th victory of his career. He was one of only five players in the field to shoot under par on the final day. The world’s No. 1 ranked amateur (wagr rankings), Rahm opened the month with a victory at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational where he carded a 15-under 198 (66-64-68), his third victory in the Thunderbird Invitational. He followed that with a tie for eighth at the Western Intercollegiate with a 1-under 209 (72-67-70). He posted a 67.9 stroke average in 10 rounds in April and in 11 tournaments spanning both the fall and spring seasons, Rahm has yet to finish outside of the top-10.
RECENT GRADUATES: ASU's three seniors all took place in graduation ceremonies last weekend as Jon Rahm (BA, Communication), Max Rottluff (BS, Marketing) and Alberto Sanchez (BA, Communication) all have earned their Arizona State degrees.
ASU IN THE REGIONALS: With the victories by both the team and Jesper Kennegard at the 2009 West Regional, ASU has won or tied for the title in a NCAA Regional six times. ASU tied with Arizona in 1991 and tied with New Mexico in 1998. It won the title outright in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2009. Sun Devil Paul Casey won the 1998 individual title outright followed by Jeff Quinney (1999), Benjamin Alvarado Holley (2007) and then Jesper Kennegard in 2009. Matt Jones shared medalist honors in 2001.
SUN DEVILS AS NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
Jon Rahm, 2015
Jesper Kennegard, 2009
Ben Alvarado, 2007
Matt Jones, 2001 (shared)
Jeff Quinney, 1999
Paul Casey, 1998
BEST NCAA SEASON STROKE AVERAGE
Bill Haas, Wake Forest, 2003-04, 68.93
Maverick McNealy, Stanford, 2014-15, 69.05
Jon Rahm, Arizona State, 2014-15, 69.15
Maverick McNealy, Stanford, 2015-16, 69.19*
Jon Rahm, Arizona State, 2015-16, 69.26*
* - Entering NCAA Regionals May 16-18
MOST @ASUMENSGOLF TOURNAMENT WINS
Phil Mickelson (1988-92), 16
Jon Rahm (2012-Present), 10
Billy Mayfair (1984-88), 8
JON RAHM'S 10 COLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT WINS
2016 Pac-12 Championship (April 29-May 1)
2016 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Apr. 2-3)
2015 Tavistock Invitational (Oct. 18-20)
2015 NCAA San Diego Regional (May 14-16)
2015 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Apr. 3-4)
2015 Duck Invitational (Mar. 23-24)
2014 Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 20-21)
2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Mar. 21-23)
2013 San Diego Classic (Mar. 11-12)
2012 Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 21-22)
Plenty eagles/birdies from two All-Americans. Add college grads to legacy @MaxRottluff @littleJRmaza @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/hrqMXFH76A
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) May 9, 2016
MOST MEN'S GOLF REGIONAL TITLES:
10 REGIONAL TITLES
Oklahoma State (1989, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014)
SEVEN REGIONAL TITLES
Clemson (1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004)
SIX REGIONAL TITLES
Arizona (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2006)
Arizona State (1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009)
FIVE REGIONAL TITLES
Florida (1989, 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010)
Georgia Tech (1991, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2014)
Texas (1992, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2015)
UCLA (2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013)
FOUR REGIONAL TITLES
Alabama (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Oklahoma, (1989, 1995, 2002, 2015)
UNLV (1990, 1994, 1997, 2005)
THREE REGIONAL TITLES
Georgia (2007, 2008, 2014)
Illinois (2013, 2014, 2015)
Kent State (1993, 2001, 2010)
New Mexico (1998, 2002, 2013)
Stanford (1996, 2010, 2014)
Wake Forest (2005, 2006, 2009)
Washington (2002, 2010, 2012)
TWO REGIONAL TITLES
Auburn (1990, 1997)
California (2012, 2013)
Purdue (2001, 2002)
USC (2008, 2012)
ONE EACH: Charlotte (2015); Chattanooga (2012); Arkansas (1991); Augusta State (2005); Duke (2011); East Tennessee State (2001); Houston (1998); Kentucky (2004); Liberty (2012); Michigan (2011); Minnesota (1999); NC State (1996); North Florida (2013), Oregon (2010); San Diego State (2011); South Carolina (2007); South Florida (2015); Texas Tech (2010); Texas A&M (1996); Tulsa (2007); UAB (2015)
IT ISN’T EASY: ASU has made the NCAA Championship Finals in 11 of the past 14 seasons and 29 of past 32, but it sure isn’t getting easier with the 30-team, three-round six-regional format. Using Golfweek’s rankings heading into last year's regionals, nine top-30 teams did not go to Florida in 2015: North Carolina (18), Wake Forest (19), Alabama (20), Baylor (22), New Mexico (23), North Florida (26), Arkansas (27), California (28) and Kennessaw State (30).
EAGLE UPDATE FOR RAHM: Jon Rahm now has 38 eagles in his 158-round career. How impressive is 38 eagles in 158 rounds? Dating back to 1993-94 when Golfstat started tracking college statistics, only three other Sun Devils posted 15 eagles in their careers. 2003 NCAA champion Alejandro Canizares had 15 eagles in 152 career rounds, while Scott Pinckey (121 rounds) and Niklas Lemke (151 rounds) had 16 eagles in their career.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS: For just the fifth time in Pac-12 history, a same-school duo swept the individual crowns with Jon Rahm and Linnea Strom both winning the titles this season. It marks the third time the Sun Devils have notched the feat.
SAME SCHOOL PAC-12 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS
2016: Jon Rahm/Linnea Strom (ASU)
2011: Martin Trainer/Sophia Popov (USC)
2001: Ricky Barnes/Lorena Ochoa (UA)
1999: Paul Casey/Grace Park (ASU)
1990: Phil Mickelson/Brandie Burton (ASU)