(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Two days after the conclusion of the Maridoe Invitational, Arizona State Men’s Golf had a quick turnaround to another elite golf invitational on Friday, as it participated in the Fighting Illini Invitational in Olympia Fields, Illinois. The Sun Devils were hoping to continue their early-season success on another historic golf course and did just that.
The Fighting Illini Invitational consisted of 15 teams taking part in a 54-hole event at the Olympia Fields Country Club. The first round of action started up on Friday, Sep. 17th, and finished on the 19th.
The field was stacked with talent as five of the top six ranked teams in the country participated in the tournament. These teams included No. 1 ranked Oklahoma State, No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 ASU and No. 6 North Carolina. The Sun Devils’ five-man lineup consisted of freshman Preston Summerhays, fifth-year senior Mason Andersen, junior Ryggs Johnston, junior David Puig and senior Cameron Sisk – the reigning individual champion of the Maridoe Invitational.
At the end of the first day, ASU was in contention to take the lead even after shooting 5-over and was four strokes behind first-place Oklahoma State. The Sun Devils’ five-man lineup had an efficient start as four of their five players ended round one in the top 25, with the worst of the four shooting 2-over.
The second day of the Invitational was dominated by Puig, who missed the Maridoe Invitational last Wednesday. Puig made his presence felt as he shot 4-under including six birdies on the day – his big-time performance propelled him from eighth place to being tied for first.
Not far behind Puig was Sisk, who shot 1-under on the day and moved into a tie for sixth place. Their stellar performances gave the Sun Devils a solid chance for both an individual and team title heading into the final day of the tournament. As a team, the Sun Devils ended the day in second place as they were 4-over and three back of first place North Carolina.
The Sun Devils were unable to make a team surge for first place on day three due to North Carolina’s outstanding play. North Carolina was headed by the Fighting Illini Invitational’s individual champion – junior Austin Greaser – who finished 4-under in the tournament.
Sisk played well on day three as he shot two-under, but Puig didn’t have his best day on the course as he shot 2-over, which ultimately hurt ASU as they were unable to cut into North Carolina’s lead. However, Johnston made up for lost ground as he shot 2-under on day three. ASU finished the tournament in second place with a 5-over, three strokes behind the champions.
Although ASU didn’t come out with the victory, the Sun Devils had another promising performance in an extremely competitive environment. Not only did this invitational possess the best teams in the country, but the Sun Devils also had to overcome one of the toughest courses they will play on all year.
Heading into the third round, head coach Matt Thurmond talked about the difficulty of the course and the task at hand for the Sun Devils in an interview on Instagram.
“This field is probably as tough as any we will play all year,” Thurmond said. “The course is probably as tough as we’ll play all year. [It’s] wet, high rough, fast green, par 70, trees everywhere.”
Even though the Sun Devils aren’t getting the end results they are hoping for, their performances both individually and as a team could be considered extremely impressive to start the season. If ASU keeps on playing at this level and continues to improve, they could be in good position for a National Championship run.
Thurmond’s confidence in the team lies within the Sun Devils’ handling of what’s thrown at them.
“It’s going to take special discipline from our guys… they know the strategy, execution… these guys are pretty good at it,” Thurmond said. “They’ve been playing awesome.”
Led by star veterans Puig and Sisk, the Sun Devils may have found their foundation for success just two tournaments into the season. ASU will likely need a little more consistency from other players in its lineup whether it be Andersen or Johnston, or even one of the new freshmen, but once that happens, ASU could very well be the favorite to win any tournament it partakes in.
ASU will get some well-earned rest as they have a two-week break upcoming, but will soon be on the road again as they will be heading to the Barbara Nicklaus Cup in Ohio, which begins Oct. 4th.
