April 29, 2005
Alejandro Canizares of Arizona State has been named the 2004-2005 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year in voting by the Pac-10 men's golf coaches, while senior Sun Devils Pat Moore (first-team) and Jesse Mueller (second-team) also earned All-Pac-10 honors. Sophomoe Niklas Lemke earned honorable mention.
Canizares, a junior from Manilva, Spain, was a unanimous Player of the Year selection by the coaches. A two-time All-America selection and the 2003 NCAA champion as a freshman, Canizares has won three of the 12 tournaments he entered this year and posted two other top 10 finishes. He raised his career victory total to six with wins this year in the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, the Arizona/Ping Intercollegiate and the Puerto Rico Classic. He has a 71.59 stroke average, currently the tenth-best mark in ASU history.
Canizares joins an impressive list of Sun Devils who have won Pac-10 Player of the Year which includes Scott Watkins (1979 co-player of the year), Dan Forsman (1981 co-player of the year), Billy Mayfair (1987), Phil Mickelson (1990, 1991 and 1992), Todd Demsey (1994), Paul Casey (2000) and Jeff Quinney (2001 co-player of the Year).
Moore has been ASU's top finisher in the last three events, including a victory at the U.S. Intercollegiate on April 16-17. He has 71.94 stroke average on the year with three top-10 finishes. Mueller has a 72.42 stroke average and two top-five finishes, as he tied for third at the NCAA Ping Preview and tied for fourth at the National Invitational. Lemke has a 73.76 stroke average and posted a career-best tie for seventh the Pac-10 Championships last weekend.
The Pac-10 golf awards and the All-Pac-10 Team are voted on by the Conference head golf coaches. Following is the complete list of the 2005 honors:
ALL-PAC-10 FIRST TEAM Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State, Jr., Manilva, Spain Rob Grube, Stanford, Fr., Hinsdale, Ill. Ben Hayes, USC, Sr., Paradise Valley, Ariz. James Lepp, Washington, Jr., Abbotsford, BC, Canada Henry Liaw, Arizona, So., Rowland Heights, Calif. Pat Moore, Arizona State, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz. Erik Olson, Washington, So., Renton, Wash.Honorable Mention: Brandon Beck, So., CAL; Zach Bixler, Fr., WASH; Kevin Blue, Sr., STAN; Kevin Chappell, Fr., UCLA; Travis Esway, Fr., ARIZ; Jeff Hood, Sr., CAL; Michael Jensen, Fr., CAL; Niklas Lemke, So., ASU; Kipp Riehle, Sr., ARIZ; Justin St. Clair, Jr., ORE.ALL-PAC-10 SECOND TEAM Daniel Im, UCLA, Fr., Fullerton, Calif. Nathan Lashley, Arizona, Sr., Scottsbluff, NB Tyler Ley, USC, Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif. Matt Ma, Oregon, So., Alea, Hawaii Jesse Mueller, Arizona State, Sr., Mesa, Ariz. Alex Prugh, Washington, So., Spokane, Wash. Taylor Wood, USC, Jr., Laguna Niguel, Calif.
PAC-10 GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Alejandro Canizares, Jr., Arizona State PAC-10 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Rob Grube, Stanford PAC-10 COACH OF THE YEAR: Matt Thurmond, Washington