Back-nine struggles cost ASU a chance at victory at the Arizona Thunderbird

(Photo: Glen Mitchell/Sun Devil Athletics)

Arizona State junior golfer Connor Williams approached the 13th tee box at the Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate, poised to score big on the 605-yard par 5. 

In the first two rounds, ASU tallied nine birdies on the juggernaut hole; little did Williams know, though, that the trend wouldn’t continue, as his tee shot was the first of 10 strokes needed to watch his golf ball disappear into the cup.

No. 5 ASU arrived at Tucson Country Club on the final day of the event just three shots behind Long Beach State, which occupied first. A back-nine breakdown, however, not helped by William’s 13th hole performance, sent the Sun Devils to the final spot of the podium, which they shared with Colorado at 21-under-par, while host No. 22 Arizona claimed victory.

Before the troubles emerged, ASU applied pressure to Arizona and Long Beach State on the front nine.

Of the five Sun Devils who were competing with the team, four of them produced under-par performances on the front, including the No. 10-ranked collegiate golfer, junior Michael Mjaaseth, who shot 4-under-par.

ASU birdied a par-3, par-4 and par-5 on the front nine, illustrating the team’s understanding of the conditions in the final round.

But the strong pace changed once the Sun Devils encountered the 13th hole. 

Freshman Bryan Newman, Mjaaseth and Williams shot a combined 7-over-par on the hole, creating a massive blow to the ground ASU covered earlier in the morning. 

From the 13th on, Mjaaseth, Newman and junior Fifa Laoapakdee couldn’t help the overall score, closing the door on a potential ASU victory.

Laopakdee had the toughest finish of the entire pack.

The Thai native entered the tournament after earning his fourth collegiate win after becoming Co-Champion of the Desimone Invitational a week prior.

Fresh off his winning ways, he blazed into Wildcat territory, occupying a solo second-place spot in the final round.

Unfortunately, the No. 58 collegiate golfer acquired four bogeys and one birdie in the concluding round, demoting him to an eighth-place finish. In his first two rounds, Laopakdee carded only one bogey while snatching ten birdies, putting on an eye-opening display.

On the flip side of Laopakdee, freshman ASU golfer Raul Gomez approached the Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate with no momentum and needing a bounce-back performance.

The last time Gomez teed off for ASU happened to be at the Cabo Collegiate on March 3, where he finished 60th after a 9-over-par result on the final round. 

Gomez collected four double bogeys during his time in Cabo, forcing the Spaniard to battle against himself instead of the rest of the field throughout the tournament.

In Tucson, however, Gomez improved drastically while competing in the individual category.

In the opening round, the freshman put up a 6-under-par showing, thanks to only carding one bogey and securing an impressive eagle on a par 5.

Gomez’s inaugural round marked the best performance of the Sun Devil team, but he cooled off toward the end.

Double bogeys came back to haunt Gomez with one occurring in both rounds two and three, leading him to shoot a combined 1-over-par in his final rounds.

While Gomez ultimately struggled in the same fashion as before, he limited the total number of double bogeys and frequently stayed in the moment to salvage his rounds.

With all of the drama and tough closing stretches ASU endured recently, the team is still proving to be an elite group from top to bottom.

In the past four tournaments the Sun Devils competed in, they have finished on the podium in three of them, including a top step appearance at Lake Merced Golf Course.

When combining the Amer Ari Invitational, the Desimone Invitational and the Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate, the Sun Devils faced nine top-15 teams at the time of competition.

In the process of accumulating impressive finishes, the team established itself at the top of stat categories and had multiple players finish within the top 15 on the individual leaderboard, meaning ASU continued its skillful play in stacked tournament fields.

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