![[year first name lastname] grins after sinking a putt in the Thunderbird Invitational tournament on Saturday, April 4, 2015 at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/asp/bd792ee6-2aca-4b94-ac9e-17543174d0c0.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=1000)
No. 9 ASU men's golf faced stiff competition in Hawaii at the Amer Ari Invitational this weekend. Despite its high ranking, it was the fourth-best team in attendance.
The first day of the tournament was a mediocre one for the Sun Devils' standards. They shot two over par (+2), a 290 the first day, putting themselves in a tie for 12th place among the 19-team field.
The lowest Sun Devil scorers on the day one were senior Jon Rahm and junior transfer Jared du Toit, who both scored -1.
ASU came out firing on the second day. Rahm had five birdies and a bogey en route to a score of 64 (-4). This wasn't the best score for the Sun Devils.
Senior Max Rottluff and du Toit added a pair of 5 under 67s. They each had six birdies and a bogey. With all five players posting under par scores, ASU moved up multiple spots on the leaderboard heading into the third and final day of the tournament.
ASU was still eight shots below No. 7 USC, though. Day three was tough for many teams, but the Sun Devils managed to hold their own. They traded birdies with bogies as they attempted to climb back into contention.
At the end of the day, the Sun Devils posted solid scores but were unable to claw their way to the top. They placed third with a total score of 842 (-22) over the three days.
ASU finished five strokes behind UCLA and seven behind USC.
Individually, University of Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise won the tournament after posting a score of 200 (-16). Rahm and sophomore Tobias Eden finished in a tie for eighth place with a -7, and du Toit finished tied for tenth with a -6.
ASU finished the weekend second in total birdies, while also managing to place in the top four in scoring for all par-3s, par-4s, and par-5s.
The men play their next tournament in La Quinta, California on Feb. 15.
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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