Junior Jon Rahm captured his fourth tournament win of his career on Tuesday as he won the individual title at the Bill Cullum Invitational in Simi Valley, California.
Rahm shot under par in all three rounds of the event to finish with a final score of 13-under par to edge out Rico Hoey (12-under) and Jonah Texeira (11-under) from USC. Rahm had a total of 19 birdies in the tournament.
.@littleJRmaza’s scores from the three rounds the past two days pic.twitter.com/8fXdxSjPjv
— Bill Slane (@bill_slane) October 21, 2014
This is the second time Rahm has won the event after he took the title in 2012 and the fourth overall win in his career as a Sun Devil. His other two wins came at last year’s ASU Thunderbird Invitational and the 2013 San Diego Classic.
It's also the second straight event that a Sun Devil has won after Max Rottluff won the Alister MacKenzie Invitational last week.
Rahm played a clean tournament, recording just five bogeys over the three rounds.
“Obviously when you win, you’re doing everything well,” coach Tim Mickelson said.
Mickelson said that what makes Rahm such a great player is he has no real weakness, and his 80-85 percent is still better than a lot of player’s best days.
Rahm still had a couple of hiccups at the Cullum Invite, including a double-bogey on the 13th hole on Tuesday, so there is still room for improvement.
The team as a whole also performed well, finishing in second place to USC with a score of 20-under par. The Sun Devils were neck and neck with the Trojans for much of the final round but could not finish it out.
USC has pulled away from ASU in the late stages of the Cullum Invite but Jon Rahm is still in the driver’s seat to take the individual title
— Bill Slane (@bill_slane) October 21, 2014
“We just need to close out tournaments better,” Mickelson said. “It sounds simple but that’s what we have to do.”
Mickelson could not pinpoint one exact thing the team has been doing that has made it difficult for them to finish well, but is confident they can get it corrected.
ASU had three golfers finish in the top 15. Aside from Rahm, junior Max Rottluff continued to play well recording a score of 5-under par and placing fifth, freshman Tobias Eden finished 3-under and tied for 15th.
Eden is a perfect example of the team needing to finish tournaments better as the freshman was playing a solid final round before having a triple-bogey late on a par-4.
Sophomore Ki Taek Lee carried the Pat Tillman bag at this tournament and did his part by recording 11 birdies and an eagle on a par-5 in the second round.
Like the women’s team, the men’s golf team’s next tournament will be in Hawaii. The Princeville Makai Invitational begins on November 3 and ends on November 5 in Princeville, Hawaii.
Mickelson is excited for his team to get another chance to compete in less than two weeks.
“It’s another chance for us to contend,” Mickelson said. “And anytime we get the chance to do that is more experience as we move further into the season.”
You can reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
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