Arizona State hosting Pac-12 women's golf championships at Papago in Phoenix
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For the first time since 2011, ASU is hosting the Pac-12 women's golf championship. For the first time ever, the Sun Devils are hosting at Papago Golf Course in Phoenix.
“It's a great honor. We want to do a great job in hosting this event from our athletic department standpoint and our team,” ASU head coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. “Someone reminded me today, 'This is your house.' It's important we put on a great championship and now it's important that we just relax and go play great. I want all my girls to enjoy the moment and experience. The plan is to put our best foot forward."
The ASU women haven’t won the conference crown since 2009.
The tournament started Monday and concludes Wednesday. Admission is free and there is free parking at nearby Phoenix Municipal Stadium, home of the ASU baseball team. Tournament officials report that signs will direct fans to an entrance by the 13th hole where golf cart shuttles will drive fans to the Papago clubhouse.
Two golfers to play LPGA major on heels of Pac-12s
USC’s Amari Avery and UCLA’s Zoe Campos will compete in the Pac-12 tournament, which ends Wednesday, then fly immediately to Houston for the LPGA’s first major of 2023, the Chevron Championship.
Avery, No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, will make her Chevron debut after receiving a sponsor invitation. The 19-year-old will tee it up in Texas without having played any kind of practice round. Avery received the invitation too late to make the trip in advance of this week. Campos earned her way into the Chevron field by claiming the Chevron Silverado Showdown earlier this month. Campos will also head to The Woodlands directly from the Pac-12s.
Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang of Stanford, who recently won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, will aim for her 10th college title at the Pac-12s rather than make another major championship start. The sophomore won the NCAA individual title last year at Grayhawk in Scottsdale.
—Beth Ann Nichols
ASU men rally to edge Arizona
Sophomore Preston Summerhays birdied the 17th and 18th holes at Papago on Saturday to lead ASU to a one-shot victory at the Thunderbird Collegiate. ASU finished at 28 under to edge rival Arizona by one stroke. North Carolina was third at 20 under, with Oklahoma State (17 under) and SMU (6 under) rounding out the top five.
Summerhays joins former Sun Devils Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson in earning medalist honors at the event. Arizona’s Chase Sienkiewicz, Zach Pollo and Sam Sommerhauser finished second, third and fourth at 9 under, four shots back of Summerhays. ASU’s Jose Luis Ballester tied for seventh.
Rahm leads PGA Tour money list
Rahm finished tied for 15th at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C., last Sunday and took home $335,000 for his efforts. That brings his season-long total to $13,623,540, which leads the PGA Tour. After a busy few weeks, including his first Masters victory, Rahm said he was looking forward to getting back home to Scottsdale and admitted he might not touch his golf clubs for a few days.
“We have a celebration planned for Tuesday,” he said after the RBC’s final round. “Travel day tomorrow (Monday), most likely won't be touching any clubs through Wednesday, maybe until Friday. We'll see how the week unfolds, but it's time to be home and it's time to be dad.”
Bounce back for former Sun Devil Reavie
Chez Reavie has posted back-to-back strong finishes on the PGA Tour after having missed six straight cuts. A tie for 11th at the RBC Heritage came on the heels of a tie for sixth at the Valero Texas Open. His last made cut prior to that came back in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii. In all, Reavie has missed nine cuts in 16 events during the 2022-23 season but he’s bounced back to bank nearly $750,000 in his last two outings.
Former ASU golfer to miss two events
Ex-Sun Devil Linn Grant of Sweden has not yet competed in the U.S. because she is not vaccinated against COVID-19. In January, the U.S. government extended its existing COVID-19 restrictions, which require international visitors to be fully vaccinated against the virus. In the meantime, she'll miss the Chevron Championship, the first LPGA major of the year, this week. She has also been replaced on Team Sweden at the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, May 4-7 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
—Beth Ann Nichols, Golfweek
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State hosting Pac-12 women's golf championships
