The Arizona State men’s golf team didn’t do anything fancy when it took to the Raptor course at Grayhawk Golf Club on Sunday. But then again, it didn’t need to.
The Sun Devils shot an even-par team total of 280 for a three round total of 842 which puts them third behind Oklahoma State (828) and Oklahoma (841). That’s where coach Matt Thurmond’s team started the day.
The field was narrowed from 30 teams to 15 after the round. Those left will play a final 18 holes on Monday, after which eight teams will advance to match play. So it isn’t even about being on top of the leaderboard because the team that has been first after stroke play has never gone on to win the championship. So right now it’s survive and advance.
The Sun Devils have yet to have a day with every player in a groove but the coach isn’t reading much into that.
“I think that’s a mythical dream,” Thurmond said. “In a championship like this to have five guys playing great at the same time is almost impossible. Maybe if we were on an afternoon on Thursday with no one around at Papago with soft greens and easy pins but it’s hard. Everything is hard. At the same time you have to keep believing it is possible. Every team starts the day thinking this could be our day. The reality is we’re going to keep fighting like we are. Some guys will play well, some guys don’t. The cool thing is someone has done it every day and that’s what a great team does. Someone always covers.”
The best score of the day for ASU came courtesy of Cameron Sisk who finished with a 3-under 67, highlighted by a birdie at the par 4, 520-yard No. 18. The junior from San Diego, California is tied for 12th individually with a 54-hole total of even 210.
It was his best round of the tournament, following a first round 70 and a second round 73.
“My mentality going into today was just to hit a bunch of greens and give myself a lot of looks,” Sisk said. “For the most part I did that. I hit 15 or 16 greens and stuck to my game plan. I’m putting really well. This is a very control-oriented course and I did that well today.”
Sophomore Ryggs Johnston, whose 7-under 63 in Saturday’s second round still stands as the best of the tournament, posted a 1-over 71 and sits tied for fifth at 206. His 15-foot putt for par at No. 18 just lipped out He also had a double bogey at the par-3, 230-yard No. 13 that took him from 1-under to 1-over.
“You never expect to come out and have two rounds like that back to back,” Johnston said. “I just wanted to go out and play solid and steady. I actually started out with two birdies in a row, kind of like yesterday. Then today throughout the round I didn’t hit great shots. So I kind of grinded my way to a 1-over. It could have been worse. The course was playing tough. You can really get yourself in trouble. A 71 isn’t going to help but it won’t kill you either.”
Rounding out the scoring for ASU were senior Chun An Yu with an even 70 for a 5-over 215 and senior Masen Anderson, a local product of Hamilton High School, who tallied 2-over 72 for a total 4-over 214.
For the second time in three days the non-counting score came from sophomore David Puig who registered a 4-over 74 and is at 10-over for the tournament. Puig, who has been ASU’s top performer through the regular season, had both a double bogey and quadruple bogey on Saturday. On Sunday it was the 18th hole that proved adventurous as he had a triple bogey to finish the round.
Thurmond singled out the birdie by Sisk at 18 as a key, just because it allowed his team to finish.
“That was a key moment because I thought we were leaking oil a little bit at the end,” Thurmond said. “David (Puig’s) triple on 18 was tough. One thing we had all day was everybody in the mix. So if somebody had a problem, we had somebody else to back him him up so that was a huge. So having five in the game was huge. When he (Puig) made triple there I was like, there’s no more margin for error. So the way we finished, I’m really proud.”
The individual leader is Bo Jin of Oklahoma State whose 1-under 69 gave him a 9-under 201, two strokes better than Clemson junior Turk Pettit (203). Parker Gillam of Wake Forest and Quade Cummings of Oklahoma are tied for third (5-under, 205) with ASU’s Johnston among the three players tied for fifth.
The biggest move of the day came from Florida State which had a team total of 6-under 274 for the day which propelled the Seminoles up six places to fifth at 9-over 849. All four scoring players for the Seminoles were under par with Jon Pak and Brett Roberts both boasting 2-under 68’s.
The best round of the day was by Gillam who had a 6-under 64, moving him up 16 slots in the individual race.
There is no charge for spectators.
from Golfweek https://ift.tt/3fDr9H4