ASU Men’s Golf: Rahm wins Pac-12 Championships, ASU finishes in third

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

Senior Jon Rahm added onto his legacy as an Arizona State Sun Devil, winning the Pac-12 Individual Men’s Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday. The team finished third at plus-23, behind only Stanford and Cal.

Rahm was six strokes back with 18 holes to play, faced with windy conditions at the par-71, 7209-yard, Salt Lake Country Club, which played at a tough 73.73 average across four days of competition.

“I feel great right now,” Rahm said. “Especially where I was at the end of three. I knew I had a chance, but everything fell in the right place for me today.”

Despite his deficit, Rahm said he was the most confident individual competitor going into the final day.

“When I’m going into the final day in first, second or third I’m always going to feel like I can take it, no matter how many stokes I’m behind,” Rahm said. “You know anything can happen.”

Rahm joins Arizona State freshman women’s golfer Linnea Strom in the honor, marking the third all-time Pac-12 individual title sweep in school history.

Jockeying for position atop the leaderboard with California’s K.K. Limbhasut, who entered the day with a six-stroke advantage, Rahm rose rapidly early on in the round. Posting consecutive birdies first on holes three and four and then seven and eight, the Spaniard garnered a share of the lead at 13-under through eight.

He then faced a bout of adversity at the turn, first bogeying the par-4 ninth, before double bogeying the par-4 10^th, driving him back to 10-under. He would ultimately flip the script playing at 2-under for the remainder of the round, to enter the clubhouse at a 12-under 272 (70-66-68-68). In the end the World Amateur No. 1’s 72-hole total would hold at the top, as Limbhasut would fall to 7-under.

“My key was patience,” Rahm said. “I knew I had to get off to a good start, make some birdies, so I wouldn’t have to make birdies towards the end because I knew the back nine was going to be tough. I tried to be a little more strategic in my play. Think about it a little more, hit more fairways and that’s what I did today.”

On the first day, which consisted of two rounds, birdies from seniors Max Rottluff, Alberto Sanchez and junior Jared du Toit carried momentum to the back nine for the Sun Devils.

Du Toit earned the highest first-round, scoring a 69 (2-under). Jon Rahm was one stroke behind his teammate with a score of 70 (1-under).

The second round was a nearly flawless one for Rahm. After shooting a 2-under on the front nine, Rahm followed it up with six birdies, one bogey and a double bogey to post a 66 (5-under) for round two. This was tied for the lowest score of the day.

ASU head coach Tim Mickelson had confidence in his team and his seasoned veteran after the first day to close out the tournament strong, which has been a struggle for this team all season.

“We were feeling good after the first day,” Mickelson said. “We had just moved up a spot on the leaderboard and our top-four were playing the way they needed to play. I thought Jon was carrying the team how he needed to.”

In addition to Rahm’s performance, it was a day of all-around improvement for the team. Rottluff and sophomore Tobias Eden played their round in even par while du Toit contributed a one-under round to help the team move from fifth place into fourth.

The second day belonged to Jon Rahm, as he was the only Sun Devil golfer to record an under-par round.

He hit six birdies and a trio of bogeys for a third-round total of 68 (3-under).

After three rounds, the Sun Devils sat in a tie for fourth with No. 24 University of Washington at 10-over. Rahm led ASU at 9-under, good for second place overall, and du Toit was the next-best Sun Devil with a score of 2-under, tied for eighth overall.

With the victory, Rahm became the seventh Sun Devil to hold the title. This was his 10th collegiate win overall, joining Phil Mickelson as the only Sun Devils to record double-digit victories.

Even though No. 5 Stanford outshot the Sun Devils by over 40 strokes over four rounds, Mickelson still holds the goal of winning a National Championship and thinks this Sun Devil team has a legitimate shot.

“Our goal all season has been a National Championship and nothing has changed,” Mickelson said. “I’m really proud of Jon and everything that he’s done, but tomorrow our focus is going to return to why we put so much work in every day. I can say this is another step to passing our goal.”

Up next, the Sun Devils will compete in the NCAA Regionals May 16-18.