May 25, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings have the ASU men's golf team fifth, behind No. 1 Georgia Tech, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Georgia, the defending NCAA champion. The Sun Devils tee off with Georgia and BYU next week at the 2000 NCAA Championships, held at the Grand National Golf Club Lake Course in Opelika, Ala.
Individually, Pac-10 champion Paul Casey is ranked second behind Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech, followed by Charles Howell of Oklahoma State, defending NCAA champion Luke Donald of Northwestern and Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech.
ASU's Matt Jones is ranked 29th. ASU has won four tournaments this year and has streaks of 12 straight NCAA top-10 finishes and five straight top five finishes, including the 1996 national title.
TEE TIMES: Fifth-seeded ASU will tee with defending champion and fourth-seeded Georgia and sixth-seeded Brigham Young at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday (May 31) from the first tee. ASU will then tee from No. 10 at 7:12 a.m. on Thursday (June 1) with Georgia and BYU. Friday and Saturday's tee times and pairings are based on the leaderboard.
STROKE AVERAGE RECORD WITHIN REACH: Phil Mickelson holds the ASU stroke average record of 69.95 back in 1991-92. Heading into NCAA Championships, Casey has a 69.57 stroke average through 28 rounds. He will play four rounds at the NCAA Championships. If he averages 72.50 in his final four rounds he will break Mickelson's ASU record.
NCAAs: Six schools have made at least 12 straight trips to the NCAA Championships. The schools and the consecutive years they have contended are: Oklahoma State (54), Clemson (19), Arizona State (17), Arizona (12), UNLV (12) and North Carolina (12). Florida had a 17-year streak snapped when it did not qualify out of the NCAA East Regional this year.
THE AVERAGE FINISH: 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 last decade. Others who qualified every year and their average finish in the 1990s: Florida (8.3), UNLV (9.1), Clemson (9.7), North Carolina (12.6) and Arizona (14.0).
CUT ABOVE: Since the NCAA instituted the 15-team "cut" at the NCAA Championships in 1992, only three schools have made the cut each of the eight years: Arizona State, Oklahoma State and Florida. With Florida not making the 30-team field this year, only the Cowboys and Sun Devils have a chance to continue that streak in 2000.
EIGHT DIFFERENT WINNERS: ASU is one of two squads to win two NCAA crowns in the 90s, with Oklahoma State the other. There has been a different champion in NCAA men's golf each year since 1992 as eight schools from five conferences have won the title. A look at the team champions in the 1990s:
| Year | Team | Score | Host School |
| 1990 | Arizona State | 1,155 | Florida |
| 1991 | Oklahoma State | 1,161 | San Jose State |
| 1992 | Arizona | 1,129 | New Mexico |
| 1993 | Florida | 1,145 | Kentucky |
| 1994 | Stanford | 1,129 | Southern Methodist |
| 1995 | Oklahoma State | 1,156 | Ohio State |
| 1996 | Arizona State | 1,186 | UT-Chattanooga |
| 1997 | Pepperdine | 1,148 | Northwestern |
| 1998 | UNLV | 1,118 | New Mexico |
| 1999 | Georgia | 1,180 | Minnesota |
RECENT INDIVIDUAL FINISHES: A look at the top recent Sun Devil individual finishes in the NCAA Championships beginning with the 1992-93 season, Randy Lein's first season as head coach:
| Player | Finish | Year | Site |
| Todd Demsey | 1st | 1993 | Lexington, Ky. |
| Darren Angel | T-3rd | 1996 | Chattanooga, Tenn. |
| Paul Casey | 4th | 1999 | Chaska, Minn. |
| Joey Snyder | T-5th | 1995 | Columbus, Ohio |
| Darren Angel | T-7th | 1998 | Albuquerque, N.M. |
| Todd Demsey | T-7th | 1994 | Dallas, Texas |
| Scott Johnson | T-8th | 1995 | Columbus, Ohio |
| Scott Johnson | T-10th | 1997 | Chicago, Ill. |
| Chris Hanell | T-10th | 1997 | Chicago, Ill. |
| Chris Hanell | T-10th | 1994 | Dallas, Texas |
| Jeff Quinney | T-11th | 1998 | Albuquerque, N.M. |
RESULTS: Results from Auburn can be accessed on the internet at: www.auburn.edu/athletics/ncaagolf or at www.ncaachampionships.com.