The ASU men’s golf team will look to resurrect its season by flying full-throttle into a cluttered Pac-10 Championship field, seeking its first victory of the year.
ASU has six players who are in their final year of eligibility, and they will determine the Sun Devils’ success at the Stanford Golf Course on Friday.
“We have a solid six guys,” senior Scott Pinckney said. “Any of us can win the tournament individually.”
No. 3 UCLA is considered the clear frontrunner in the conference, boasting three players in the top 30 individually, including No. 3 freshman Patrick Cantlay. However, the last couple of tournaments have been tough for the star freshman, including a tied-for-42nd finish in the Insperity/Augusta State University Invitational in Augusta, Ga., on April 3.
ASU redshirt junior Philip Francis knows just how good UCLA is since he transferred from the school last year, despite the fact the Bruins don’t have a course on campus.
“I am excited to play with them,” Francis said. “I still have a lot of good buddies on the team, and I’m playing the first day with the guy that I was roommates with the first two years. So it will be fun, but at the same time we are still there to win.”
Francis has played his best golf in the state of California, finishing in the top 10 two out of three times.
The difference with this tournament, other than that it will include six golfers per team instead of five, is that 72 holes will be played instead of 54. That translates to two rounds on the first day, which gave Pinckney a hard time earlier this spring.
Pinckney said after the ASU Thunderbird Invitational on April 10 that he was just not mentally or physically prepared to play 36 in one day. Now he is trying not to make the same mistake.
“It’s all about rest,” he said. “I have been really focusing a lot more on conserving my energy a couple of days before the tournament.”
Seniors Thomas Buran, James Byrne, Jesper Kennegard and Oscar Zetterwall will make up the rest of the competing roster. Every one of them except Zetterwall has finished in the top 10 this year.
ASU coach Randy Lein called Byrne the wildcard on the team.
“He is capable of winning the whole thing, and those who know him know that it wouldn’t surprise anybody,” Lein said.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
