No. 3 Ole Miss topped the fifth-ranked Sun Devils 3-2, with sophmores Fifa Laopakdee (4 & 3 over Cameron Tankersley) and Connor Williams (3 & 2 over Cohen Trolio) getting Sun Devil wins.
Junior Michael Mjaaseth fell in 21 holes to Tom Fischer despite a 40-yard fairway chip that found the hole on 19, but Fischer answered with a 20-foot birdie putt to halve the hole. The two traded pars on their 20th hole, then Mjaaseth’s drive on their 21st found the rough, as did his second shot. Fischer nearly made a 30-footer for birdie to end the match outright but settled for par as Mjaaseth narrowly missed a par putt.
Sun Devil Men’s Golf Head Coach Matt Thurmond
On the emotions he is experiencing
“It is a little different every year when it ends. I am still processing what just happened. First of all, I feel bad for Mike (Michael Mjaaseth). He is taking it hard and that is difficult to see. I am glad that the team is there for him. It makes me really proud of who and what we are. The focus is on the losing, but there was an incredible amount of winning this year, this week, this postseason, and today. To have a group of guys that play so hard, care about each other, and represent their school. That is winning too. Whenever you are this good and get to this position, whoever’s season ends, they are devastated.”
On his reflections on the season
“It was a great season for us. We were good enough to be the number one team after 72 holes. The match play deal, it is a bit of a crapshoot as we saw. I am really proud of our guys. I am disappointed they can’t keep playing, because they deserve to. That is kind of how it goes. You just don’t know. Sports don’t work that way.”
On the program’s mindset moving forward
“These guys have done an incredible job this week of doing the one thing we asked. Just be completely here, and they were, until the very end. We are going to have one more team meeting together, but immediately their brain, my brain, and everyone else’s brain moves away from right here right now to what are we doing next week. We got Europeans with flights home soon. Preston (Summerhays) and Josele (Ballester) have professional events right around the corner. Thomas (Sutton) has a 20-week appointment with his wife for their future baby. I have a family trip. Everything just moves…
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