By Lindsay Gaesser, SDA Media Relations
San Diego, Calif.—The third-ranked Arizona State men’s golf team heads to San Diego to compete as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regional Championship this weekend. The Sun Devils enter NCAA Regional play with six regional championships in its trophy case, tied for third-best in the NCAA and for the most by any Pac-12 school.
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.
The 54-hole regional tournament will be played at the par-72, 6,947-yard The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe. The top five teams and the top individual not on those teams from each region will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
Joining Arizona State at the San Diego Regional are ACC Conference champion No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 22 New Mexico, No. 27 Virginia, No. 34 Georgia, No. 39 East Tennessee State, No. 47 Mississippi, No. 55 San Diego, No. 59 Idaho, No. 65 St. Mary’s (California), No. 98 Wichita State, and No. 150 Eastern Kentucky.
2014-15 SUN DEVIL TEAM TOURNAMENT VICTORIES
Arizona Intercollegiate (Jan. 26-27, 2015)
Amer Ari Invitational (Feb. 5-7, 2015)
Prestige at PGA WEST (Feb. 16-18, 2015)
Duck Invitational (Mar. 23-24, 2015)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational (April 3-4, 2015)
2014-15 SUN DEVIL MEDALISTS UNDER TIM MICKELSON
Jon Rahm (Jr.) ASU Thunderbird Invitational (April 3-4, 2015)
Jon Rahm (Jr.), Duck Invitational (Mar. 23-24, 2015)
Max Rottluff (Jr.), Arizona Intercollegiate (Jan. 26-27, 2015)
Jon Rahm (Jr.), Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 20-21, 2014)
Max Rottluff (Jr.), Alister MacKenzie Invitational (Oct. 13-14, 2014)
BEST SUN DEVIL MEN’S GOLF HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS (2005-06 TO PRESENT)
Since head-to-head became an official statistic over a decade ago, ASU’s most wins prior to this year were in 2005-06 when it was 142-52-5. ASU is 147-15-1 entering NCAA regional play after its third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships.
2014-15: 147-15-1
2005-06: 142-52-5
2013-14: 130-54-4
The Sun Devils head to NCAA Regionals fresh off a third-place finish at the Pac-12 Conference Championships last week. The squad is led by the best one-two punch in college golf in the nation. A 2015 Ben Hogan award semifinalist (click for story), junior Jon Rahm won the Bill Cullum Invitational in the fall and posted back-to-back wins this spring at the Oregon Duck Invitational and the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. He has posted 22 rounds (out of 34) in the 60s, and has a 68.79 stroke average, second-best in the nation. His 3.91 scoring average on par-4 holes is tied for best in the nation, and he has 31 eagles in his career, including nine this season.
EAGLE UPDATE FOR RAHM: Jon Rahm now has 31 eagles in his 117-round career. How impressive is 31 eagles in 117 rounds? Dating back to 1993-94 when Golfstat started tracking college statistics, only three other Sun Devils posted 15 eagles in their careers. While Rahm has 31 eagles in just 117 rounds, 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.
JON RAHM SIX TOURNAMENT WINS
ASU Thunderbird Invitational (April 3-4, 2015)
Duck Invitational (Mar. 23-24, 2015)
Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 20-21, 2014)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational (Mar. 21-23, 2014)
San Diego Classic (Mar. 11-12, 2013)
Bill Cullum Invitational (Oct. 21-22, 2012)
MOST @ASUMENSGOLF TOURNAMENT WINS
Phil Mickelson (1988-92), 16
Billy Mayfair (1984-88), 8
Jon Rahm (2012-Present), 6
Alejandro Canizares (2002-06), 6
Charlie Gibson (1972-75), 6
Paul Casey (1997-2000), 6
Averaging 69.27 through 12 tournaments, Max Rottluff is having a standout junior year for the Sun Devils. In addition to leading the squad in birdies (153) this season, Rottluff has recorded nine top-10 finishes, five of which were in the top five. In October, the junior won his first collegiate individual title at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. To kick off the Sun Devils’ spring campaign, Rottluff won another title at the Arizona Intercollegiate in January and led the squad to its first team title of the season. Shooting a 10-under 203 (70-65-68), Rottluff carded the most birdies (15) of that tournament and was 7-under on par-four holes.
In Rahm’s back-to-back wins at the Oregon Duck Invitational and the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Rottluff was right there beside him placing second in both tournaments, just one stroke behind his teammate each time. Rottluff posted a career-low 63 in the second round of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, carding eight birdies on the day and 16 overall.
First round action takes place on Thursday, May 14. The Sun Devils will tee off beginning at 8:00 a.m. PDT with No. 2 Georgia Tech and No. 3 Oklahoma from the first hole. Teams and individuals will be re-paired according to score after the first and second rounds.
NCAA San Diego Regional
1. Arizona State
2. Georgia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference)
3. Oklahoma
4. New Mexico
5. Virginia
6. Georgia
7. East Tennessee State (Southern Conference)
8, Mississippi
9. San Diego
10. Idaho (Big Sky Conference)
11. St. Mary’s, California
12. Wichita State (Missouri Valley Conference)
13. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference)
Individuals
1. Cody Blick, San Jose State University
2. Petter Mikalsen, University of Denver
3. George Cunningham, University of Arizona
4. Antoine Rozner, University of Missouri-Kansas City
5. Chad Merzbacher, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
6. David Kocher, University of Maryland, College Park
7. Matt Green, Kansas State University
8. Conner Campbell, Loyola Marymount University
9. Hayden Shieh, Santa Clara University
10. Justin De Los Stanos, California Polytechnic State University