April 3, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State men's golf team travels to Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico, on April 7-9 to play in the Compaq U.S. Collegiate Championships. The 12-team field plays 18 holes on Friday (April 7), 27 holes on Saturday (April 8) and concludes with nine holes on Sunday (April 9). TV coverage is from noon-2 p.m. EDT on ESPN on Saturday and from 2-4 p.m. EDT on espn2 (tape delay) on Sunday. ASU's lineup will be junior Paul Casey, sophomore Matt Jones, juniors Jeff Quinney, and Jin Park and senior Jonas Runnquist. The tournament is held at the Eldorado Golf Club (par 72, 7,050 yards) and is co-sponsored by Intersport and Kent State University.
LAST YEAR AT U.S. COLLEGIATES: The Sun Devils finished third at the U.S. Collegiate Championships on April 2-4, 1999, at Lecanto, Fla., with Paul Casey finishing tied for fifth at 4-under-par 212. UNLV won the team title with a 25-under 839 (286-272-281) while Chris Berry of UNLV was medalist with an 8-under 208 (70-68-70). ASU shot a 10-under 854 (279-287-288). Jeff Quinney and Matt Jones each tied for 13th with a 2-under 214. Last year's U.S. Collegiate Championships is where then sophomore Paul Casey started an amazing streak of good golf that has continued to this day. Casey's 4-under-par 212 was the beginning of a streak that saw the sophomore go 26-under-par in his final 17 rounds last year, and he has picked up that pace this year as he is 31-under-par in 15 rounds this year with a 69.47 stroke average. Beginning with last year's U.S. Collegiate Championships, Casey is 57-under-par in his past 32 rounds.
THREE-DOT DATA: ASU has a current string of 12 straight NCAA top-10 finishes, the best current mark in the nation...ASU also is the only team to finish in the top five at the NCAAs in each of the past five years...ASU has won the Pac-10 title the past five years (a conference record) and in six of the past seven years...the Sun Devils won national championships in 1990 and 1996......ASU is led by eighth-year head coach Randy Lein, the 1996 National Coach of the Year and a six-time winner of Pac-10 Coach of the Year (four times at ASU and twice at USC).
THE LINEUP: Quick notes on the probable ASU lineup:
(1)-Junior Paul Casey--69.47 stroke average this year...seven of his 15 rounds have been in the 60s...31-under-par this year...57-under in his past 32 rounds...has notched a third-place finish in his past three tournaments...two-time defending Pac-10 champions and a two-time second-team All-American.
(2)-Sophomore Matt Jones-71.62 stroke average this year...has three top-10 finishes in seven appearances this year...shot a season-best 6-under 210 (73-68-69) at Las Vegas Intercollegiate.
(3)-Junior Jeff Quinney-72.21 stroke average this year...has three top-10 finishes in 8 appearances this year...1999 NCAA West Regional and Thunderbird/SAVANE medalist.
(4)-Junior Jin Park-72.95 stroke average this year...had season-best 9-under-par at Golf World Invitational...already has played in 30 tournaments in career.
(5)-Senior Jonas Runnquist-73.22 stroke average this year...shot a 66 at the Nelson Invitational in October in the third round...has played in 24 tournaments in his career.
| TOURNAMENT | DATE (SITE) | RESULT/NOTES |
| NCAA Ping Preview | 9/19-21 (Opelika, Ala.) | ASU 3rd/Matt Jones 4th |
| Jerry Pate National | 10/18-19 (Birmingham, Ala.) | ASU 6th/Paul Casey T-2nd |
| The Nelson (JV) | 10/29-31 (Stanford, Calif.) | ASU 13th/Runnquist T-4th |
| Golf World Invitational | 11/5-7 (Hilton Head, S.C.) | ASU 5th/Jin Park T-7th |
| Ping/Arizona Intercoll. | 1/30-2/1 (Tucson, Ariz.) | ASU 9th/Matt Jones T-22nd |
| Taylor Made Intercoll. | 2/17-19 (Waikoloa, Hawaii) | ASU 2nd/Paul Casey 3rd |
| USC/Southwestern Classic | 2/28-29 (Los Angeles, Calif.) | ASU 1st/Paul Casey T-3rd |
| Golf Digest Invitational | 3/10-12 (Las Vegas, Nev.) | ASU 1st/Paul Casey T-3rd |
| U.S. Collegiate Champ. | 4/7-9 (Los Cabos, Mexico) | |
| ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE | ||
| Invitational | 4/15-16 (Tempe, Ariz.) | ASU & Quinney def. champs |
| Pac-10 Championships | 4/24-26 (Tempe, Ariz.) | ASU & Casey def. champs |
| NCAA West Regionals | 5/18-20 (Fresno, Calif.) | ASU & Quinney def. champs |
| NCAA Championships | 5/31-6/3 (Opelika, Ala.) | ASU champs in '90 and '96 |
JUNIOR ALL-AMERICAN PAUL CASEY: A two-time second-team All-American and the two-time defending Pac-10 champion...also the 1999 English Amateur Champion...has seven rounds in the 60s this year (out of 15)...dating to last year, Casey is 57-under in his past 32 rounds...has notched a third-place finish in each of his past three tournaments...is 31-under-par in 15 rounds this year...Casey shot an NCAA record 60 on the final day of the 1999 Pac-10 Championships (April 28)...also the 1999 English Amateur champion...medalist at 1998 and 1999 Pac-10 Championships, 1998 Cleveland Golf Southwestern Invitational and 1998 West Regional.
| Year | App | Top 10 | Rds. | Avg. | Low |
| 1999-00 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 69.47 | 65 |
| 1998-99 | 12 | 7 | 37 | 72.16 | 60 |
| 1997-98 | 12 | 5 | 37 | 72.30 | 65 |
| Career | 29 | 16 | 89 | 71.76 | 60 |
Low Round: 60 at the 1999 Pac-10 Championships, held in Seattle, in the fourth and final round.
SOPHOMORE MATT JONES: Has been in the top 10 in his past two tournaments...improved his scored each day at the 1999 NCAA Championships (79-78-76-73)...tied for 10th this past summer at Porter Cup but equaled tournament record with 62 in opening round...has seven rounds in the 60s in brief career.
| Year | App | Top 10 | Rds. | Avg. | Low | |
| 1999-00 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 71.62 | 67 | |
| 1998-99 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 73.38 | 68 | |
| Career | 15 | 5 | 47 | 72.60 | 67 |
Low Round: 67 at the 1999 Ping Preview, held in Opelika, Ala., in the third and final round.
JUNIOR ALL-AMERICAN JEFF QUINNEY: Has three top-10 finishes this year...is 2-under-par in his past six rounds...medalist at 1999 West Regional and ASU Thunder/SAVANE Invitational...best round this year was a 66 in the first round of the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate.
| Year | App | Top 10 | Rds. | Avg. | Low | |
| 1999-00 | 8 | 3 | 24 | 72.21 | 66 | |
| 1998-99 | 13 | 5 | 40 | 72.50 | 62 | |
| 1997-98 | 11 | 3 | 35 | 72.57 | 68 | |
| Career | 32 | 11 | 99 | 72.45 | 62 |
Low Round: 62 at the 1999 ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational, held in Tempe, in the third and final round.
JUNIOR JIN PARK: Had a 9-under-par 207(71-68-68) at the Golf World Invitational and tied for seventh....has three top-10 finishes in his career...best career finish was a tie for fourth at 1998 Pac-10 Championships.
| Year | App | Top 10 | Rds. | Avg. | Low |
| 1999-00 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 72.95 | 68 |
| 1998-99 | 12 | 1 | 36 | 73.97 | 66 |
| 1997-98 | 11 | 1 | 34 | 73.85 | 66 |
| Career | 30 | 3 | 91 | 73.69 | 66 |
Low Round: 66, tiwce, at the 1999 Ping Intercollegiate, held in Tucson., in the second round and at the 1998 Pac-10 Championships, held in Orinda, Calif., in the third round.
SENIOR JONAS RUNNQUIST: Shot a career-best 66 at the Nelson Invitational in third round on Oct. 31...tied for fourth at the Nelson.
| Year | App | Top 10 | Rds. | Avg. | Low |
| 1999-00 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 73.22 | 66 |
| 1998-99 | 10 | 1 | 31 | 75.06 | 67 |
| 1997-98 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 75.00 | 70 |
| 1996-97 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 77.06 | 72 |
| Career | 24 | 2 | 73 | 75.09 | 66 |
Low Round: 66 at the Nelson Invitational, held at Stanford, in the third and final round.
RANDY LEIN: Randy Lein has coached 51 tournament victories in 18 seasons, tutored 38 All-Americans and added the top accolade in collegiate golf in 1995-96 - the NCAA title - to his collection of honors as the Sun Devils won the title in Chattanooga, Tenn., with a three-stroke victory over UNLV at the Honors Course. In his eighth season as ASU's coach, Lein has guided ASU to 28 tournament victories (including a school record six in 1995-96), six Pac-10 titles, three NCAA West Regional wins and seven top-10 finishes at the NCAAs including the 1996 title. In addition, Lein has tutored NCAA medalist Todd Demsey and nine All-Americans (18 occasions): Todd Demsey (3), Chris Hanell (3), Cade Stone, Chris Stutts, Joey Snyder (2), Scott Johnson (2), Darren Angel (2), Jeff Quinney (2) and Paul Casey (2). He has won Pac-10 Coach-of-the-Year four times (1993, 1995, 1996 and 1999) while at ASU and twice at USC (1980 and 1986). Lein (pronounced "Line") is a 1975 graduate of CS Northridge.
NCAA NOTE: The Sun Devils averaged a 4.1 finish at the NCAA Championships in the 1990s, the best mark in the nation. Only Oklahoma State (4.5) averaged higher than an eighth-place finish in the past decade.
NCAA NOTE II: Seven schools have made at least 11 straight trips to the NCAA Championships. The schools and the consecutive years they have contended are: Oklahoma State (53), Clemson (18), Florida (17), Arizona State (16), Arizona (11), UNLV (11), North Carolina (11).