ASU junior Jon Rahm tees off at the 10th hole of the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open on Feb. 1, 2015. (Andrew Ybanez/The State Press)The ASU men’s golf team is in Eugene, Oregon, this week as it looks to add an eighth straight top-five finish at the Oregon Duck Invitational.
In terms of strength of field, this tournament may be the easiest yet on paper this spring. No. 12 ASU will be the highest ranked team in the field followed the host team No. 15 Oregon. No. 20 Washington will be the only other team in the top-25 according to Golfweek’s rankings in Eugene. Oregon State and Utah are the only other Pac-12 schools at the event.
Juniors Jon Rahm and Max Rottluff will lead the team in the first and second spots respectively. The Colonial Country Club, the Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America announced this week that the two Sun Devils were added to the Ben Hogan Award watch list. ASU was one of just two schools to have multiple golfers on the watch list.
Rahm has finished in second place in the past two tournaments and won the Bill Cullum Invitational in October along with his 12-under 272 performance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Rottluff has won two events so far this season, the Arizona Intercollegiate in January and the Alister Mackenzie Invitational in October.
The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the nation’s top college golfer based on both collegiate and amateur competitions.
Sophomore Nicolo Galletti, junior Alberto Sanchez and freshman Tobias Eden round out the rest of the lineup for the Sun Devils in Eugene this week.
Galletti struggled in the team’s last event, the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, shooting an 8-over 224 but still has two top-10 finishes this season and maintains a stroke average of 71.39 after six tournaments. The last event was the first time Galletti had shot over par since the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate.
Sanchez has yet to card a score under par for a tournament this year but did shoot a career best round of 66 at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate in September.
Eden has had his ups and downs this season while maintaining a stroke average of 72 through eight tournaments. At the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters he finished in the top-60 with a 6-over 222. His best overall performance this year came at the Amer Ari Invitational in February where he finished in the top-20 with an 8-under 208 including tying a career best in the first round shooting a 68. He has carded that score three times this season.
Competing as an individual in Eugene and playing in just his fifth event of the season is senior Broc Johnson. Most recently Johnson competed by himself at the Loyola Golf Invite in Goodyear in February. Johnson tied a career best as a Sun Devil shooting a 9-under 207 and taking the individual title at the tournament. It was the first time this season Johnson has shot under par.
Tim Mickelson's team has been rolling as of late and has the potential to go far in the Pac-12 Championships in April and the NCAAs starting in May. The Oregon Duck Invitational could be an event the team may look past considering the field but it’s important to keep the momentum going that the Sun Devils created since winning their first event in January.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow @bill_slane on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
