Pooj might sound like a dance craze at a Barcelona club, but it’s actually the way to pronounce Arizona State golfer David Puig’s last name.
That’s important because Puig, a sophomore from Spain, could accomplish something prestigious this week at one of the premier events in men’s college golf, The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, California.
If Puig wins a third consecutive tournament outright, he will become the first Sun Devil to do so since Phil Mickelson was a junior in 1991.
Puig is as much of a revelation as anyone with a No. 15 World Amateur ranking can be.
He earned the clinching point in the season-opener Copper Cup duel vs. Arizona, followed up with a tournament record nine-stroke win in the Southwestern Invitational then shot 13-under for another individual title (by four strokes) at the 30th Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Hawaii.
Now it’s on to The Prestige for No. 3 ASU (Bushnell/Golfweek coaches poll) and a 24-team field that includes No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 9 San Diego State and No. 11 Arizona.
Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
“When we recruited David, we knew he was an amazing player, super elite,” ASU coach Matt Thurmond said. “All along we believed he could dominate at this level, and we think he will. He came in the middle of the season last year then we got cut off (due to COVID). He could have done this last year had he had more time, he probably would have popped big time late in the spring.”
Instead, it’s happening now in a season that will culminate with the NCAA Championships being held in Scottsdale for the first time, May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club. So everything happening now for ASU also is being viewed in the longer lens of its chances to win a third national title and first since 1996.
Puig said he “kind of deserves” the success he’s having because of the work he’s put in for this season.
Chun An Yu, No. 5 World Amateur, was ASU’s acknowledged leader going into his senior season. He is not playing badly but also not as well as Puig, which could be a good thing in terms of team depth.
“It’s good for him to have David beating him right now because that gives him something to shoot for. When you’ve been at the top for a long time and everyone expects you to win everything, you’re used to getting shot at but not chasing very often. We’ve actually been playing it up internally, kind of making fun of Kevin, are you ever going to beat David again? It’s all just in good fun, they have a great rapport. David knows how nice it is to have a player like Kevin taking a lot of the attention so he can just do his thing.”
Now, though, the reverse is happening with all eyes on Puig and whether he can equal Mickelson’s 1991 run with wins at the Golf Digest, Morris Williams and Sun Devil Thunderbird invitationals among his 16 titles while at ASU.
“Now I have pressure on me,” Puig said. “I want to win this thing and be in the history of the Sun Devil family. That’s important for me. I’m going to try to go there, play good, fight every round until the end and cheer for my teammates and try to win as a team.”
from Golfweek https://ift.tt/2MYXI71