The ASU men's golf team began their final 18 holes on Sunday afternoon trailing San Diego State University by one stroke, a victory still firmly within their grasp.
The Sun Devils started off hot, collectively playing holes 1-3 in five under giving themselves an early three stroke lead over San Diego State.
The early run was highlighted by seniors Max Rottluff and Jon Rahm. Rottluff started his round with consecutive birdies on holes one and two while Rahm also threw in consecutive birdies of his own on holes two and three.
Rottluff followed with three bogies on holes 5, 9, and 11. Rottluff steadied his ship with a birdie on the par-5 14th hole, getting himself back to even par on the day.
With a three-day total of 207, Rottluff secured his third top-ten finish in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in his four years at ASU.
However, the man of the hour was Rahm, who finished the third round with a score of 68 (-3). With the finish, Rahm became the first Sun Devil player to win the ASU Thunderbird Invitational three times.
Rahm's final round was highlighted by bogey-free front nine along with a back nine eagle on the par-5 14th and a birdie on the par-5 17th to secure his victory.
Rahm spoke to his success this week en route to his title defense.
"I hit it really good off the tee, pretty long and straight and that makes it a lot easier," he said. "This course is not the longest, if you keep it in the fairway you make it easier."
With his 9th collegiate victory, Rahm now moves into 2nd place all-time in victories at ASU behind only Phil Mickelson, who has 16 victories.
"I like to say that I'm one of the best right-handers to ever play at ASU," Rahm chuckled.
He later called his career success a "huge honor."
"I really wasn't thinking about that (career win total) this week, I've thought about it before and maybe pressured myself," he said. "But to be the second-best (at ASU) is a huge honor and something to be proud of."
Rahm has now recorded a top-ten finish in all nine events this golf season and in the top-ten of 21 of his 23 international starts. He said that he realized how consistent he was as a player when head coach Tim Mickelson, brother of Phil, pointed this stat out to him.
The golfer recognizes the improvements he's made this year, saying that even when he doesn't play well, he's in contention. His coach acknowledged the same.
"He's continued to mature (on the golf course) and because of that maturity that has taken place over the last three and a half years I believe he is going to have a very very good career at the next level too," Mickelson said.
While Rahm and Rottluff had good performances, the rest of the ASU squad had a rather poor week. Even with Rahm (-15) and Rottluff (-6), the Sun Devils had a cumulative total of -16 for the week. They finished in fourth place overall.
Iowa State took home the title with a three round total of -20, finishing just ahead of No. 22 ranked San Diego State (-19).
Mickelson summed up his thoughts on his teams performance this week.
"Overall it was a disappointing week because we didn't defend our title on our home golf course," he said. "But we had a few guys struggle and to still have a chance coming down the stretch was nice, at least puts ourselves where we have a chance to compete even when we're not at our best."
Although disappointed in his team's finish, Mickelson couldn't have been more excited in his senior victor.
"Jon has meant a tremendous amount to this program over the last four years," he said.
Editor's note: Due to an editing error, the ASU golf head coach was misidentified. The error has been corrected.
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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