ASU heads across the southern border to The Cabo Collegiate looking for a three-peat

(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is a common spring break destination for many Arizona State students. Around a week before swarms of college kids will hit the beaches, No. 7 ASU men’s golf will be there, but for the team, it’s no vacation.

The Sun Devils will be competing in The Cabo Collegiate, starting March 1 and ending two days later. It’s a tournament they’ve played in every year since 2022, and one where they’ve been on the top step of the podium.

In its four tournament starts, ASU has claimed a pair of wins, both of which have occurred in the last two years. Back-to-back wins in Cabo have placed a target on the Sun Devils’ backs with a field full of elite programs ready to take a shot at the defending champions at Twin Dolphins Golf Club.

The Maroon and Gold went wire to wire last year after taking a first-round lead, winning by five strokes with a score of 14-under-par. The score bested programs such as No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Arkansas and Florida State, all of which are back in the field searching for revenge. If those programs aren’t enough on their own, the field is supplemented with the likes of No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 17 Georgia Tech, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 20 Stanford.

Junior Fifa Laopakdee led the way for ASU last year, tying for the top spot in the tournament’s individual ranking at 8-under-par. The Thai native has been one of the hottest players in all of collegiate golf, punching his ticket to The Masters and The Open in the coming months.

Laopakdee has three top-20 finishes this season and has found success over ASU’s recent winter break. He finished at 6-under-par last time out at the Amer Ari in Hawaii and will look to defend his individual title this week.

Senior Michael Mjaaseth has been the backbone of the Sun Devils all season, thanks to his consistent performance. Mjaaseth is coming off a third-place finish in Hawaii, where he shot 19-under-par. With a scoring average of 67.6, the Norwegian standout will look to post another consistent performance in search of his third consecutive team win in Cabo.

Junior Connor Williams has also been instrumental to ASU’s success this season. Williams notched a top 15 finish in Hawaii, shooting a weekend score of 14-under-par. The California native has one win and one top-three finish on the season ahead of the Cabo Collegiate.

Freshman Raul Gomez showed immense promise in his first two starts in the Maroon and Gold. At the Copper Cup, the Spaniard was the only Sun Devil to win both of his matches. Then at the Amer Ari, he fired three straight under-par rounds for a final score of 11-under par.

No. 5 Vanderbilt is the highest-ranked squad in the tournament and looks to be ASU’s toughest competition. Senior Wells Williams leads the way for the Commodores as the No. 8-ranked player in the NCAA. Williams is yet to win a tournament this year, but has a top-three finish and has yet to fall outside of a top-10 spot.

The reigning NCAA champions, OSU, will also look for revenge after its second-place finish in Cabo last year. The Cowboys finished at 9-under-par last year after finishing outside the top-10 two years earlier.

The Cowboy to look out for this week is junior Ethan Fang. Fang won The Amateur Championship last year and was named a Ping First Team All-American. The Plano, Texas native won his first tournament of the season at The Carmel Cup and could be at the top of the leaderboard throughout the week.

No. 9 Arkansas could also pose a threat to the Maroon and Gold in Cabo, headlined by senior John Daly II, the son of legendary Razorback John Daly. The Hogs have won two out of their last three tournaments and are one of the hottest teams in the country coming into the week.

It will be a tall task for ASU to win The Cabo Collegiate for a third consecutive year, as it takes on yet another challenging field early in the spring season. The tournament marks the start of a hectic March for head coach Matt Thurmond and the Sun Devils, who will play five tournaments over the course of the month. Tee times in Cabo will begin on Sunday at 8:30 a.m., with teams starting shotgun-style across the 18 holes.