After a split of the morning foursomes, the Sun Devils still needed five points.
Enter focused Chun An Yu (5&4), determined Ryggs Johnston (4&3), steady Blake Wagoner (2&1) and consistent Cameron Sisk (4&3) who all won their matches in solid fashion, on the heels of Mason Andersen getting a point in each of his first three matches.
But needing one more point and running out of holes and Andersen trailing his opponent, sophomore David Puig had to be clutch.
He was.
VIDEO: Lots of fun past two days. Solid win. Good words in here on ?@ArizonaMGolf? ... great day for golf in our state. #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/ms4i0X5xTO
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) January 19, 2021
But needing one more point and running out of holes, sophomore David Puig was clutch.
He won hole 13 to tie his match, but lost 14 and 15 was even. Then the comeback started with a birdie at the par-5 16th hole, then a par at the par-3 17th after a bogey by the Wildcats. A par on the 18th clinched the match and the Sun Devil comeback.
"Today this event showed how great these two teams are," said Sun Devil head coach Matt Thurmond. "I said it but I think it's really awesome when both teams are great, and I think they are great. Both teams come away confident, it's great for the state, great for us both long term when you have this level of play. It was just a cool celebration of college golf and golf in Arizona.
"Last night when we were behind Armen and I had a message for the team...you could whine about being behind and be frustrated but we're competing. We're playing golf again and wearing our uniform again and competing in this amazing event, which we wouldn't even have had if we didn't have COVID. That's the best part, even if we would've lost it would have still been an awesome event because it was really cool and great for our players for their development."
?? ?????? ???????????? ?????? goes to ?????????????? ?????????? ???????????????????? ??
— Ak-ChinSouthernDunes (@AkChin_SoDunes) January 19, 2021
Making a comeback in the final rounds to win 12.5 @sundevilmgolf to 11.5 @ArizonaMGolf. It was a great day and great golf from both teams.
Thank you to everyone from Team ACSD! pic.twitter.com/bZBeaPMKwQ
ON MASON ANDERSON'S PLAY
"We were really fired up. We had a very difficult talk with Mason a week ago and it was good that we had it, just about where he is in his career and we really challenged him to take it to a new level of his intensity and he was ready for it and wanted it. He's been a different person since and he was a nasty competitor out there this week."
That was cool ... pic.twitter.com/mISheGZpLq
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) January 19, 2021
ON DAVID PUIG'S PERFORMANCE
"I've been hyping up David and we forget that he and Ryggs are both still very inexperienced. David played fine but he's not that sharp right now but at the same time he is a world class player. The whole time it felt that there's no way that he's not going to find a way to win a match. He's ultra-competitive too, you know that he's not going to quit until the very end, he just needed a little bit of an opening and a little bit of momentum and when he got it he responded. I think he's kind of a primetime player too, I could feel it on the 17th tee, he won that hole, everybody was gathering around the same part of the course. They knew it came down to this, he felt it and birdied the 16 and all of the sudden the whole tournament was on the line on 17 and I think he knew that. You could just feel that that's where he knows he belongs and he's the one that's supposed to be in that situation, and he responded well. He hit a good enough shot on 17, a good put, and played 18 really well. You really don't want to play against David Puig when the whole tournament is on the line."
Sun Devils rally to beat the Wildcats and capture the inaugural Copper Cup. Really cool event at @AkChin_SoDunes. Hope they make this an annual thing because once fans are back, this would be an awesome addition to the rivalry @sundevilmgolf @ArizonaMGolf pic.twitter.com/nlX9iQgTfc
— Collin Harmon (@CollinHarmonTV) January 19, 2021
Wildcats come up just short in Copper ?? Cup, 11.5 to 12.5, to Arizona State.
— Arizona Men's Golf (@ArizonaMGolf) January 19, 2021
Tip of the ?? to @sundevilmgolf
Shoutout to @AkChin_SoDunes for safely hosting our event!#BearDown
This bunker shot sealed the first singles victory for @sundevilmgolf Chun An Yu got up and down for birdie on 14 to win 6&5 #Coppercup pic.twitter.com/O7kHgeogXy
— Troon (@Troon) January 18, 2021
MONDAY MORNING FOURSOMES (2-2)
Banke/Reeves 2&1 over David Puig/Ryggs Johnston
Chun An Yu/Blake Wagoner 4&3 over Aurilia/Saskin
Sienki/Sommerhauser 6&5 over Salvanera/Park
Cameron Sisk/Mason Andersen 2&1 over Werbylo/Deuce
MONDAY AFTERNOON SINGLES (ASU 5, UA 3)
Chase Sienkiewicz (UA) def. Jeewon Park (ASU), 4&3
Chaz Aurilia (UA) def. Gabe Salvanera (ASU), 3&2
Blake Wagoner (ASU) def. David Laskin (UA), 2&1
Chun An Yu (ASU def. ) def. Sam Sommerhauser, 5&4
Ryggs Johnson (ASU) def. Christian Banke (UA), 4&3
David Puig (ASU) def. Briggs Duce (UA), 1-UP
Brad Reeves (UA) def. Mason Andersen ASU), 3&2
Cameron Sisk (ASU) def. Trevor Werbylo (UA), 4&3