ASU (17-over 881) finished second at the Tucker Invitational held at The Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M. The host New Mexico Lobos (1-under 863) won the tournament.
The Sun Devils got off to a great start behind sophomore Jon Rahm. Rahm shot a 4-under 68 on the opening round to give ASU the early lead. Rahm tapped in three eagles during the tournament, bringing his career total to 12. According to Golfstat, only four ASU players have more eagles in their careers. Rahm finished tied for ninth with a final score of 3-over 219.
ASU took a step back in the second round. They shot three strokes worse than the outing in the first round, but remained on top of the leaderboards.
The final round proved to be the decider for the Sun Devils. They shot a dismal 22-over 310. The Lobos took that opening and shot an otherworldly 7-under 281 to win the tournament.
ASU missed on a golden opportunity to win the invitational, but had to settle for second. This is the second straight tournament the Sun Devils have finished in the top two.
Coach Tim Mickelson said he was overall impressed by the team’s performance.
“Obviously how you finish is very important in golf and we certainly did not have a good day," he said. "While we gave up a big lead and did not win the tournament, there were a lot of positive that came from this week."
Mickelson gave four takeaways from the weekend's tournament.
“First we showed we can compete at a very high level," he said. Second, we learned a few things that changed between day one and day two, and we won’t let that mentality creep back into our minds ever again. Third, we sensed what winning felt like and we want that feeling more often. Lastly, it is a positive that it happened this early in the season. Both times we have been the best team in the tournament that is not the host, that is a good sign.”
Fellow Sun Devil sophomore Alberto Sanchez (4-over 220) finished 11th, junior Broc Johnson (7-over 223) finished tied for 16th, junior Austin Quick (8-over 224) finished tied for 20th and junior Mathias Schjoelberg (12-over 228) finished tied for 32nd.
ASU plays next at the Alister McKenzie Invitational in Fremont, Calif. on Oct.14-15.
Reach the reporter at afeyrer@asu.edu or on Twitter at @coffeeblack910.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, previous version of this article had incorrect stats, including the score of Jon Rahm and referring to Golfstat as Golfstate. The story has been updated to correct these inaccuracies.
