Junior Jon Rahm studies the green at the 9th hole at the 2015 WM Phoenix Open on Jan. 30, 2015. (Andrew Ybanez/The State Press)After back-to-back tournament wins, the ASU men’s golf team will be looking to make it three in a row in California this week as they take part in The Prestige at PGA West event in La Quinta, California, starting on Monday.
The event again includes a lot of top-level Pac-12 opponents including No. 2 Oregon, No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 USC, No. 15 Stanford and No. 19 Washington. Golfweek currently ranks ASU at No. 20 in their rankings.
Also included are some of top ranked collegiate golfers in the nation including Golfweek’s top-ranked collegiate player, Washington’s Cheng Tsung Pan. No. 4 Maverick McNealy of Stanford is the second top-5 player that will be competing this week. ASU’s top ranked player according to Golfweek is junior Max Rottluff who they have ranked at No. 23. Junior Jon Rahm is ranked No. 30.
Speaking on the quality of the field at The Prestige, ASU head coach Tim Mickelson noted that the field is smaller than the Amer Ari tournament last time out, but is just as strong.
“It’s another great opportunity to show what we’re made of,” Mickelson said.
There are a number of high-level schools outside of the Pac-12 in this event that ASU doesn’t get a chance to see as often. No. 4 LSU would be at the top of list of those schools but No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 31 Oklahoma State and No. 33 San Diego State are no slouches either.
With two straight wins and another difficult tournament with top-caliber opponents, the concern may be keeping all of the momentum the team has going. Mickelson doesn’t have any worries about that.
“I don’t think there’s anything we need to change,” Mickelson said. “I think the guys are believing that we’re one of the best teams in the country.”
Mickelson said that alone is the best motivation that a team can have, to continue to want to prove that they are the best.
“I think it’s going to be that much easier to get them out to practice, that much easier to have them spend the extra 30 minutes. Because everyone enjoys winning and obviously it’s contagious,” Mickelson said.
The lineup for ASU this week does have one change from previous events. Redshirt sophomore and Wake Forest transfer Grayson Murray will be getting his first opportunity to compete as a Sun Devil this week as he gets the final spot in the lineup.
Murray competed in three tournaments for Wake Forest during the fall semester of 2012 and had one top-10 finish, an eighth place finish at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate shooting a 3-under 213. Despite not playing in a college event in two years, Murray’s demeanor on social media would say he’s confident and ready for his chance.
The rest of the lineup is mostly unchanged with Rottluff again getting the first spot with Rahm, sophomore Nicolo Galletti and freshman Tobias Eden getting the subsequent spots. Junior Alberto Sanchez will again be competing as an individual in this event.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or on Twitter @bill_slane.
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