ATLANTA, Ga. - Freshman Luke Potter had an outstanding performance for the Sun Devils in Tuesday's semi-final match play against Pepperdine at the East Lake Cup.
Potter's two stroke lead going into the back-nine set him up for the commanding 4&3 win helping the Sun Devils take an early one point lead against Pepperdine.
"Luke is a fierce competitor and loves the big moments," Associate Head Coach Thomas Sutton said, "We've seen that these last two rounds and in the practices leading up to this tournament. He missed the last event and since then he has been playing some great golf."
Preston Summerhays' late putt on the 18th helped him finish 1-up against his opponent to give the Sun Devils a strong two point advantage on the day.
Ryggs Johnston fell 1-up and Michael Mjaaseth lost his match 2&1 going into the 18th hole which allowed Pepperdine to tie it up 2-2 with Josele Ballester as the last match to finish.
Ballester sunk a clutch putt to seal the deal for the Sun Devils on 16, winning the matchup 3&2 and sending ASU to the finals to face Vanderbilt. After being down two strokes after just the first two holes, he battled back, taking the lead on 10 and not relinquishing it for the rest of the match.
"Josele has had two awesome days," Head Coach Matt Thurmond said. "He's playing great. Having him dominate that last match was huge today. When the whole thing was in the balance he won five of six holes from 8 to 13, then made a huge bird to win on 16. He's been very impressive."
REVENGE
The four teams (Arizona State, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Texas) selected for this tournament were the top four teams in the NCAA Championship last year. Arizona State got their revenge in today's match play over Pepperdine after they beat the Sun Devils at the East Lake Cup last year in the semi-finals to send them home.
Live coverage of the East Lake Cup begins tomorrow on the Golf Channel at 3:00p.m. EST/12:00p.m. MST. The Sun Devils look to take home the win in the final day of match play over Vanderbilt. Tomorrow's pairings will be announced soon. Keep up with the Sun Devil Men's Golf action by following @SunDevilMGolf on Twitter and Instagram.
Potter's two stroke lead going into the back-nine set him up for the commanding 4&3 win helping the Sun Devils take an early one point lead against Pepperdine.
"Luke is a fierce competitor and loves the big moments," Associate Head Coach Thomas Sutton said, "We've seen that these last two rounds and in the practices leading up to this tournament. He missed the last event and since then he has been playing some great golf."
Preston Summerhays' late putt on the 18th helped him finish 1-up against his opponent to give the Sun Devils a strong two point advantage on the day.
Preston Summerhays ??? gets it done it done in his match on the 18th green ??
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) October 25, 2022
Just one point away from a spot in the finals at East Lake…
Watch LIVE on @GolfChannel ?? pic.twitter.com/s1yew1TLt7
Ryggs Johnston fell 1-up and Michael Mjaaseth lost his match 2&1 going into the 18th hole which allowed Pepperdine to tie it up 2-2 with Josele Ballester as the last match to finish.
Ballester sunk a clutch putt to seal the deal for the Sun Devils on 16, winning the matchup 3&2 and sending ASU to the finals to face Vanderbilt. After being down two strokes after just the first two holes, he battled back, taking the lead on 10 and not relinquishing it for the rest of the match.
"Josele has had two awesome days," Head Coach Matt Thurmond said. "He's playing great. Having him dominate that last match was huge today. When the whole thing was in the balance he won five of six holes from 8 to 13, then made a huge bird to win on 16. He's been very impressive."
Josele Ballester ?? wins his match 3&2
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) October 25, 2022
The Sun Devils have secured a spot in the finals tomorrow at East Lake ?? #ForksUp /// ???? pic.twitter.com/83RYnSGKQk
REVENGE
The four teams (Arizona State, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Texas) selected for this tournament were the top four teams in the NCAA Championship last year. Arizona State got their revenge in today's match play over Pepperdine after they beat the Sun Devils at the East Lake Cup last year in the semi-finals to send them home.
Live coverage of the East Lake Cup begins tomorrow on the Golf Channel at 3:00p.m. EST/12:00p.m. MST. The Sun Devils look to take home the win in the final day of match play over Vanderbilt. Tomorrow's pairings will be announced soon. Keep up with the Sun Devil Men's Golf action by following @SunDevilMGolf on Twitter and Instagram.