PHOENIX – Sun Devil Men’s Golf cruised on Day 1 of the Thunderbird Collegiate, pacing the 17-team field by 13 strokes (-23) after 36 holes of play to open the two-day action at Papago Golf Course
Preston Summerhays (-9) leads the field by three strokes after posting opening rounds of 67 and 66, respectively, on Friday, while Wenyi Ding (-6), Michael Mjaaseth (-6) currently sit tied for second. After carding a 67 in his first round, Mjaaseth is currently 14 holes into his second. He’ll complete his second round Saturday morning.
Heading into Saturday at The Thunderbird Collegiate…#ForksUp?? pic.twitter.com/eCiMQWfEDN
— Sun Devil Men’s Golf (@sundevilmgolf) April 13, 2024
Ryggs Johnston (-5) also remains in contention for an individual title after rounds of 68 and 69, respectively, on Friday. Josele Ballester (-3) is the fifth Sun Devil to finish Day 1 under-par, thanks to nine total birdies across 36 holes.
The Sun Devils also posted a tournament-leading 41 birdies, as Summerhays’ 11 were the second-most among all individuals on Friday.
The 13-stroke lead positions the Sun Devils comfortably atop the leaderboard heading into Day 2, as they pace Arizona (-10), UCLA (-6) and Houston (-6).
SUN DEVIL INDIVIDUAL THUNDERBIRD COLLEGIATE WINNERS
Preston Summerhays – 2023
James Leow – 2022
Chun An Yu – 2019
Jon Rahm – 2016, 2015, 2014
Stephan Gross – 2009 (co-medalist)
Alejandro Canizares – 2003
Paul Casey – 2001
Jeff Quinney – 2000
Todd Demsey – 1995
Larry Barber – 1994
Phil Mickelson – 1992, 1991
Jim Carter – 1984
Mark Sollenberger – 1974
SUN DEVIL TOP 100 WAGR RANKINGS (APR. 9, 2024)
7 – Wenyi Ding
10 – Preston Summerhays
17 – Josele Ballester
54 – Luke Potter
70 – Michael Mjaaseth
86 – Ryggs Johnston
2024 THUNDERBIRD COLLEGIATE
APRIL 12-13, 2024
PAPAGO GOLF COURSE
PAR-71/7,551 YARDS
Arizona State
Washington
Arizona
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
New Mexico
Oklahoma State
UCLA
SMU
Baylor
Utah
Washington State
Houston
Oregon State
Colorado
San Francisco
USC
LAST TIME OUT
ASU took third place at the Valspar Collegiate, finishing 10-under (842) after three rounds of play. Three Sun Devils had three top 10 finishes at the tournament, Wenyi Ding finished tied for fourth at 8-under, Ryggs Johnston tied for sixth at 4-under, and Connor…
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