Sun Devil Men's Golf improved by 10 strokes on day two of the NCAA Championship, firing a 1-over 281 (69-69-71-72=281/-+1), paced by 1-under 69s from Luke Potter and Ryggs Johnston and finishing tied for ninth as a team.
"I thought yesterday wasn't as bad as it was made to sound, so we were excited to come out and prove that today," said head coach Matt Thurmond. "We're going to play a good round and it's going to sound like a comeback story when it really isn't. I thought the course played harder today."
The Sun Devils entered the clubhouse in a tie for 15th, but ascended as teams ahead of them completed their rounds. ASU tied the second-best card of any team in the morning wave with its 1-under par.
Arizona State jumped 12 spots on the day. In fact, ASU's meteoric ascent from T21 to T9 is the second-highest rise from the first to second round in the three years that the NCAA Championship has been at Grayhawk.
MOST SPOTS IMPROVED FROM ROUND ONE TO ROUND TWO AT GRAYHAWK
Vanderbilt, 2021 (13 spots, finished in 7th)
Arizona State, 2023 (12 spots, finish T19)
Florida, 2022 (10 spots, finished 10th)
After not scoring in Friday's first round, Potter carded a bogey-free back-nine (his front nine, with the team starting on 10) and recorded only two holes that were not par or birdie. He finished in a tie for 68th individually.
"I didn't have the greatest opening round yesterday, so I was pretty free on that front nine," said Potter. "I was able to trust my swing. I worked on a few things on the range, so it was nice to see a couple of putts fall. When the putts are rolling in, it's a lot easier to step up on the next tee and swing free."
ASU's best on the leaderboard, Josele Ballester, is 1-over for the tournament after his 2-over 72 card. He went three-under through his first nine holes (the back-nine) and five over in his back (the front). He is in the top 20, tied for 19th and a mere two strokes outside the top 10 in the individual standings.
The Sun Devils will be in a group that starts at 7:05 on the first hole with Florida State and Virginia. ASU will look to solidify its place on Monday's tee sheet. Only the top 15 squads will advance out of Sunday's third round into Monday's fourth. The top eight after Monday will advance to match play after that.
"Not really," said Potter about if he feels any pressure for Sunday. I've played this course a lot. I trust my guys. We're going to go out and play one shot at a time and we should be pretty good."
"I thought yesterday wasn't as bad as it was made to sound, so we were excited to come out and prove that today," said head coach Matt Thurmond. "We're going to play a good round and it's going to sound like a comeback story when it really isn't. I thought the course played harder today."
The Sun Devils entered the clubhouse in a tie for 15th, but ascended as teams ahead of them completed their rounds. ASU tied the second-best card of any team in the morning wave with its 1-under par.
Arizona State jumped 12 spots on the day. In fact, ASU's meteoric ascent from T21 to T9 is the second-highest rise from the first to second round in the three years that the NCAA Championship has been at Grayhawk.
MOST SPOTS IMPROVED FROM ROUND ONE TO ROUND TWO AT GRAYHAWK
Vanderbilt, 2021 (13 spots, finished in 7th)
Arizona State, 2023 (12 spots, finish T19)
Florida, 2022 (10 spots, finished 10th)
After not scoring in Friday's first round, Potter carded a bogey-free back-nine (his front nine, with the team starting on 10) and recorded only two holes that were not par or birdie. He finished in a tie for 68th individually.
"I didn't have the greatest opening round yesterday, so I was pretty free on that front nine," said Potter. "I was able to trust my swing. I worked on a few things on the range, so it was nice to see a couple of putts fall. When the putts are rolling in, it's a lot easier to step up on the next tee and swing free."
Johnston had a six-stroke improvement from the opening round, carding three birdies and two bogeys for his 1-under performance. The former national third place finisher is tied for 42nd.The freshman isn't messing around ??
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 27, 2023
Fourth birdie of the day for Luke Potter ??
?? https://t.co/Rv7Srynd2H#ForksUp /// ?????? pic.twitter.com/a6TJjab1lK
ASU's best on the leaderboard, Josele Ballester, is 1-over for the tournament after his 2-over 72 card. He went three-under through his first nine holes (the back-nine) and five over in his back (the front). He is in the top 20, tied for 19th and a mere two strokes outside the top 10 in the individual standings.
"We're going to get some shade, eat some good food, we're going to see our physio guys, make sure they rest, get out of the sun, and mentally we did to get away from it," said Thurmond on post-round plans. "We'll go do something fun by the pool or maybe go bowling. We'll get away from it for a bit, which I think is important."Escape Artist ??
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 27, 2023
Ballester ?? worked himself into and out of trouble on the par-5, 11th with a ??
?? https://t.co/Rv7Srynd2H#ForksUp /// ?????? pic.twitter.com/AWyLLUcAf9
The Sun Devils will be in a group that starts at 7:05 on the first hole with Florida State and Virginia. ASU will look to solidify its place on Monday's tee sheet. Only the top 15 squads will advance out of Sunday's third round into Monday's fourth. The top eight after Monday will advance to match play after that.
"Not really," said Potter about if he feels any pressure for Sunday. I've played this course a lot. I trust my guys. We're going to go out and play one shot at a time and we should be pretty good."