What a fun day. We battled so hard until the last putt dropped. That last putt was a birdie by @kevingolfyu to get us into the NCAA Championships again this year. The competitions is so tough these days and advancing always deserves a celebration. I'm so excited for these guys.
— Matt Thurmond (@MattThurmond) May 16, 2018
The @SunDevilMGolf team knew it had a tough task ahead of it when it was seeded No. 4 in the #NCAAGolf Raleigh Regional, more than 2,100 miles away.
In the field was ACC champion and fourth-ranked Georgia Tech, ninth-ranked California, No. 16 Texas and then some local flavor that always makes a regional trip stressful.
Host North Carolina State (No. 36), and same region neighbors No. 28 Duke, MEAC champion Augusta and Big South champion Liberty all fired hot rounds on Wednesday and had the Sun Devils on the ropes, but sophomore Chun An Yu wasn't ready to call it a season.
The Sun Devils, needing a birdie on the final hole to realistically have any chance at a playoff, not only got a birdie but Georgia Tech posted a bogey and as a result the two-time NCAA Champion Sun Devils (1990 and 1996) are off to Stillwater for the NCAA Championships.
v Had to beat really good teams
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 16, 2018
v @a_delrey99 best score of the day (65) improves by 10 strokes from Tuesday
v clutch (AS IN HUGE) birdie by @kevingolfyu on final hole (1 of only 11 birdies at No. 9 all day)
v look forward to @KarstenCreek and seeing friends from @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/o5JutvSzJn
Chun An Yu tied for fifth overall and shot a 2-under 69 and notched the final birdie to put ASU in the five spot, but it was the play of sophomore Alex del Rey that gets the most golf claps. One day after shooting 75, he fired a 6-under 65 with six birdies as he set the tone with four birdies in his first six holes.
"I have been to a lot of regionals in my years, but this one will go down as the most intense and dramatic," said second-year Sun Devil head coach Matt Thurmond. "Yesterday due to weather, we thought we could be done. The weather report was looking really bad with lightning reported in the area. There were expectations we might not play today. We finished poorly, finishing in sixth place with a couple strokes out. We thought our season was over."
"Somehow we got some energy as the night went on. The weather report was better and they moved up the tee times. Before you know it, we are playing like we have nothing to lose and a new lease on life. Everything was going well, but everyone else was playing well too. Unless NC State, Duke, and Georgia Tech backed up, it was going to be tough to catch them. It was us and Liberty battling it out most of the day. We were playing with them and they dropped a few shots. It looked like we were ahead of them. Then there was Augusta playing on the other nine, who went on an amazing birdie run. With a hole left, we knew we had to beat Georgia Tech to get in. Kevin (Chun An Yu) hit it in the fairway, hit a nine iron by one to about eight feet. Kevin made it for a two-shot swing. We pulled it out to advance. I have been on the other end of it, losing by one at regionals a couple of times. I know how hard it is and never take making NCAAs for granted."
How clutch was Alex del Rey's 65? It matched the low score of his career, only matched by the 7-under 65 in the final round on Sept. 24, 2017, when he won medalist honors at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate held in Carefree, Ariz. It was also the low round of the day.
"This regional was brutal. Just a terrible place to be sent with the home team being the six seed, a team 20 minutes away being the No. 5 team, and Liberty being from the area. It showed the west coast teams didn't fair very well. The top two seeded teams, Georgia Tech and Cal failed to advance. It was a really tough regional and we feel fortunate to get through an amazing birdie by Kevin, awesome bogy free, final round 65 by Alex (del Rey). The 71 is just as important as the 65 because it saves us a shot. If there is one thing we learned today, it was the value of a shot."
Yu tied for tournament honors on the par-4 holes going eight under and posted 16 birdies.
Freshman Koichiro Ishika shot 1-under 70 and had a huge birdie on the par-5 No. 7 hole when ASU needed it most, as the Sun Devils played the front nine last.Stillwater bound! It ain't over until we say it is...and it wasn't until the last birdie dropped (which was ours). pic.twitter.com/OjeNNlbmMH
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 16, 2018
2018 NCAA REGIONALS
LONNIE POOLE GOLF COURSE (PAR 71/7,273 YARDS)
RALEIGH, N.C./MAY 14-16, 2018
TOP TEAM SCORES (GOLFSTAT RANKINGS)
1. No. 16 Texas 271-273-269=813/-39
2. No. 28 Duke 281-272-277=830/-22
3. No. 36 North Carolina State 275-277-279=831/-21
4. Augusta 278-284-270=832/20
5. No. 21 Arizona State 276-283-275=834/-18
----
6. No. 4 Georgia Tech 274-279-282=835/-17
TOP INDIVIDUALS/SUN DEVIL SCORES
1. Doug Ghim, Texas 64-66-66=196/-17
T5. Chun An Yu 65-70-69=204/-9
T13. Koichiro Ishika 71-67-70=208/-5
T26. Alex del Rey 71-75-65=211/-2
T47. Mason Andersen 69-73-73=215/+2
T47. Blake Wagoner 71-73-71=215/+2
@SUNDEVILMGOLF REGIONAL FINISHES
2018: 5th/Raleigh, N.C.
2017: 5th/Austin, Texas
2016: 1st/Albuquerque, New Mexico
2015: 2nd/San Diego, California
2014: 6th/Columbia, Mo.
2013: 5th/Tempe, Arizona
2012: DNC
2011: T-4th/Erie, Colorado
2010: T-4th/Atlanta, Georgia
2009: 1st/Daly City, California
2008: 8th/Bremerton, Washington
2007: T-3rd/Tempe, Arizona
2006: T-3rd/Tucson, Arizona
2005: T-4th/Stanford, California
2004: 4th/Sunriver, Oregon
2003: T-5th/Seattle, Washington
2002: 20th/Albuquerque, New Mexico
2001: 1st/Corvallis, Oregon
2000: T-6th/Fresno, California
1999: 1st/Tucson, Arizona
1998: T-1st/Tempe, Arizona
1997: 2nd/Santee, California
1996: 2nd/Stanford, California
1995: 1st/Albuquerque, New Mexico
1994: 2nd/Tucson, Arizona
1993: 2nd/Provo, Utah
1992: 2nd/Tucson, Arizona
1991: T-1st/Albuquerque, New Mexico
1990: 3rd/Las Cruces, New Mexico
1989: 2nd/El Paso, Texas
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Arizona State is one of 13 teams to have both the women's and men's teams qualifying for NCAA championships in 2018. The Sun Devils are joined by Northwestern, Alabama, Stanford, UCLA, Kent State, Arkansas, Texas, Auburn, Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Duke.
TOP 25 TEAMS STAYING HOME: Making the NCAA Championship is not easy as seven of Golfstat's top-25 teams missed the cut, including No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 6 LSU, No.9 California, No. 19 USC, No. 20 South Florida, No. 22 Florida State and No. 25 Wake Forest. MOST NCAA REGIONAL TITLES (UPDATED THROUGH MAY OF 2018)
13 REGIONAL TITLES
Oklahoma State (1989, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
SEVEN REGIONAL TITLES
Arizona State (1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2016)
Clemson (1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Texas (1992, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2015, 2016, 2018)
SIX REGIONAL TITLES
Arizona (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2006)
Florida (1989, 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2018)
FIVE REGIONAL TITLES
Georgia Tech (1991, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2014)
Oklahoma, (1989, 1995, 2002, 2015, 2018)
Stanford (1996, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017)
UCLA (2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013)
UNLV (1990, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2017)
FOUR REGIONAL TITLES
Alabama (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
Georgia (2007, 2008, 2014, 2016)
Illinois (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
THREE REGIONAL TITLES
Kent State (1993, 2001, 2010)
New Mexico (1998, 2002, 2013)
USC (2008, 2012, 2017)
Wake Forest (2005, 2006, 2009)
Washington (2002, 2010, 2012)
TWO REGIONAL TITLES
Auburn (1990, 1997)
California (2012, 2013)
Purdue (2001, 2002)
Texas A&M (1996, 2018)
ONE: Charlotte (2015); Chattanooga (2012); Arkansas (1991); Augusta State (2005); Duke (2011); East Tennessee State (2001); Houston (1998); Kansas (2018); Kentucky (2004); LSU (2017); 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); Tulsa (2007); UAB (2015); UCF (2017)