This week, the ASU men's golf team traveled west to Santa Cruz, California to take part in the 70th Annual Western Intercollegiate hosted by San Jose State University.
The Western Intercollegiate is one of the last chances for teams like USC, ASU, Cal and SDSU to tune up leading into their respective conference championships.
Round 1
The Sun Devil squad opened day one with a combined seven birdies through the first three holes of the tournament, taking an early lead over the competition.
The lead was short-lived as bogeys soon followed, dropping ASU back into the cluster of teams around even par.
Senior leader Jon Rahm, coming off a win in his last event in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, had an over-par opening round of +2 (72) that pushed him all the way down into a tie for 38th heading into the second day.
Meanwhile, with Rahm unable to separate himself from the pack on the first day, junior Jared du Toit and senior Max Rottluff each made large contributions.
The pair each shot a -3 (67) to put them in a tie for third place after round one, trailing the lead set by Oregon sophomore Aaron Wise by four strokes heading into the second day.
ASU played the first round in +7 and sat in ninth place at the end of the afternoon, 16 strokes behind leading Oregon.
Round 2
The second round would best be described as a house divided. Rahm, du Toit and Rottluff, who were playing nearly flawlessly, combined for a total score of eight-under on the afternoon with Rottluff leading the way with a four-under.
The second round was a rough one for the rest of the Sun Devil roster as each of the four remaining players recorded at least one double bogey on their score card by the time the day was over.
Even with the solid efforts of Rahm, du Toit and Rottluff, ASU only mustered a team score of +1 on day two, solidifying their place in the 5th spot heading into the final day, finding themselves still 16 strokes back of the lead.
Round 3
The last round of the tournament will be one many of the Sun Devil players would rather soon forget.
Shooting a final round team score of 368, ASU fell from fifth place to eighth place on a day in which the team recorded five double bogeys, three triple bogeys and even a quintuple bogey (+5 on one hole).
Even with their final-day struggles, the Sun Devils still had three players finish in the top 15: Rottluff (T4), Rahm (T8) and du Toit (T12).
Although it was not the final round ASU wanted heading into the Pac-12 Championship, the team still has 16 days until they tee it up in Salt Lake City for the conference title.
Related links:
By the numbers: Everything you need to know before the PING/ASU Invitational
ASU women's golf finishes 6th at SDSU's March Mayhem
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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