Arizona State beats Stanford on the Cardinal's home course to take team title in The Goodwin

    When the Pac-12 gave its members the go-ahead to start playing golf again, Arizona State hit the ground running.

   When the Sun Devils, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, earned an eight-shot victory over tournament host Stanford, ranked 66^th, in The Goodwin, which concluded Saturday at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., it was their seventh tournament of a wraparound 2020-2021 season that was shortened considerably for the Pac-12 schools that were not allowed to compete in the fall.

   With Chun An Yu, a fifth-year player from Taiwan and No. 13 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Ryggs Johnston, a sophomore from Libby, Mont., finishing a tie for seventh place, each landing on 5-under 205 over the 6,727-yard, par-70 Stanford layout, Arizona State completed a solid 15-under 275 run to the team crown in The Goodwin.

   Stanford, which has had a more gradual return to action, grabbed a three-shot lead over its Pac-12 rival with an opening round of 3-under 275 on the Cardinal’s home course Thursday. Arizona State, though, took control with the low team round of the tournament, a 7-under 273 behind An Yu’s sparkling 5-under 65 in Friday’s second round that gave the Sun Devils a five-shot lead over Stanford, which posted a 1-over 281.

   Arizona State had the best team round of the day in Saturday’s final round, a 6-under 274, to finish at 15-under. Stanford closed with a solid 3-under 277 to claim runnerup honors with a 7-under 833 total.

   Two years ago, Stanford was No. 31 in the Golfstat rankings when it won the team title in The Goodwin for the 15^th time. Two months later Stanford was hoisting an NCAA Championship trophy for the ninth time in the program’s rich history at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. So, we’ll see if a strong showing in The Goodwin doesn’t turn into a springboard again for Stanford.

   It was eight shots back to No. 12 Pepperdine, which closed with a solid 5-under 275 to finish in third place with a 2-over 842 total. The Wave, which were No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings when the pandemic shut down college golf a year ago, opened with a 2-over 282 and added a 5-over 285 in Friday’s second round.

   Pepperdine did play some golf in the fall, including an impressive 4-1 win over Oklahoma in the final of the East Lake Cup in October, and the Wave will certainly be heard from in the postseason.

   Another Pac-12 entry, No. 61 Washington, outperformed its ranking by finishing three shots behind Pepperdine in fourth place with a 5-over 845 total. The Huskies opened with a 1-over 281 and added a 6-over 286 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 278.

   No. 100 St. Mary’s and No. 70 Nevada were next in the team standings, the Gaels finishing in fifth place with a 7-over 847 total and the Wolf Pack ending up sixth at 8-over 848. They were led by the individual co-champions, St. Mary’s Blake Hathcoat, a senior from Fresno, Calif., and Nevada’s Sam Harned, a senior from Rocklin, Calif., landing atop the leaderboard at 10-under 200.

   Both scorched the Stanford Golf Course layout with 7-under 63s in Thursday’s opening round. Hathcoat put a nose in front with a 1-under 69 in Friday’s second round while Harned matched par with a 70 to fall into a tie for second place, a shot behind Hathcoat. Harned, though, registered a 3-under 67 in Saturday’s final round while Hathcoat posted a 2-under 68 as both finished at 10-under.

   Hathcoat helped St. Mary’s open with a 5-over 285 and add a 2-over 282 in Friday’s second round before the Gaels slipped back in the  final  round with a 10-over 280. Still, a solid showing for the Gaels, who should see their ranking go up considerably off this performance.

   Harned helped Nevada open with a 4-over 284 and add a 7-over 287 before the Wolf Pack closed with a solid 3-under 277 to finish a shot behind St. Mary’s at 8-over. They can expect a boost in their ranking as well.

   No. 19 SMU out of the American Athletic Conference, finished up with a 1-under 279 to end up two shots behind Nevada in seventh place in the 28-team field with a 10-over 850 total. The Mustangs opened with an 8-over 288 and added a 3-over 283 in Friday’s second round.

   An Yu had opened with a 1-over 71 before going off with his second-round 65 Friday. A final-round 69 left him in the tie for fifth place with his teammate Johnston at 5-under. Johnston was solid throughout, carding back-to-back 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-under 67 that gave him low-Sun Devil honors in the final round.

   Backing them up was David Puig, a sophomore from Spain and No. 15 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for 11^th place with a 2-under 208 total. Puig had come out of the gate blazing earlier this year, claiming back-to-back individual victories over strong fields in the Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. and in The Amer Ari Invitational at the Hapuna Golf Course in Waimea, Hawaii.

   Puig matched par with back-to-back 70s in his first two tours of the Stanford layout before closing with a 2-under 68.

   Arizona State has a third player among the WAGR’s top 50 In No. 50 Cameron Sisk, a junior from San Diego. Sisk and Mason Andersen, a senior from Chandler, Ariz., rounded out the Sun Devils’ lineup as they both landed among the group tied for 24^th place at 2-over 212.

   Sisk opened with a 1-under 69 and added a 73 before matching par in the final round with a 70. Andersen matched par in the opening round with a 70 before contributing a 1-under 69 to the Sun Devils’ strong second-round showing Friday and closing with a 73.

   The best round of the tournament belonged to Oregon’s Tom Gueant, a sophomore from France who zoomed up the leaderboard with a sizzling 8-under 62 in the final round that left him alone in third place with a 9-under 201 total, a shot behind the co-champions, Hathcoat and Harned. Gueant had opened with a 1-under 69 before matching par in the second round with a 70.

   It looked for a minute like SMU’s Noah Goodwin, a junior from Corinth, Texas and No. 38 in the WAGR, just might win The Goodwin. He added a sparkling 4-under 66 to an opening-round 67 and was tied with Harned, a shot behind Hathcoat after Friday’s second round.

   Goodwin, who defeated rising PGA Tour star Matthew Wolff in the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship final at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan., could only manage to match par in the final round with a 70 and he finished in a tie for fourth place with Southern California’s Kaito Onishi, a senior from Bradenton, Fla. at 7-under 210. Onishi was solid throughout, adding a 69 to his opening-round 68 before climbing the leaderboard with a 4-under 66 in Saturday’s final round.

   Pepperdine’s Joe Highsmith, a senior from Lakewood, Wash., finished alone in sixth place with a 6-under 204, a shot behind Goodwin and Onishi. Highsmith sandwiched an even-par 70 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 3-under 67s.

   Washington’s Henry Lee, a graduate student from Canada, and Santa Clara’s Matt McCarty, a senior from Scottsdale, Ariz., finished in a tie for ninth place at 3-under 207, two shots behind Arizona State’s An Yu and Johnston. After opening with a 2-under 68, Lee matched par in Friday’s second round with a 70 before closing with a 69. McCarty was only two shots out of the lead after adding a 4-under 66 to his opening-round 68 before backing off a little in the final round with a 73.

   Joining Arizona State’s Puig in the trio tied for 11^th place at 2-under 208 were Stanford’s Barclay Brown, a sophomore from England, and San Diego’s Jamie Cheatham, a graduate student from Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Brown paced the Cardinal as he followed up an opening-round 72 with back-to-back 2-under 68s in the final two rounds. Cheatham opened with a sparkling 5-under 65 before backing off with a 72 in Friday’s second round and a 71 in the final round.

   Speaking of Stanford, an interesting name popped up in the list of Stanford players competing as individuals, that of Nate Menon, who captured the 2015 PIAA Class AA Championship as a junior at Wyomissing. After opening with a 75, Menon was impressive in the final two rounds of The Goodwin, carding a 69 in Friday’s second round and closing with a 3-under 67 that left him among the group tied for 21^st place at 1-over 211.

   It will be interesting to see if Menon can earn himself a spot in the Stanford lineup for the postseason. Pretty sure he was really close two years ago when the Cardinal captured the NCAA crown.

   Two players in the starting lineup at The Blessings, Henry Shimp, a fifth-year player from Charlotte, N.C., and Daulet Tuleubayev, a junior from Kazakhstan, also competed as individuals in The Goodwin and finished in the group tied for 33^rd place at 3-over 213. Shimp delivered the clinching point in the Cardinal’s 3-2 victory over Texas in the Final Match at The Blessings.

   A third member of the five that started the Final Match at The Blessings, David Snyder, a fifth-year player from McAllen, Texas, was in the lineup for The Goodwin, but struggled, particularly in a final-round 82.

   Stanford has some young stars in the lineup, including Michael Thorbjornsen, a freshman from Wellesley, Mass. who slayed none other than Akshay Bhatia to win the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., and Karl Vilips, a freshman from Australia and No. 33 in the WAGR who made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort & Golf Club in Pinehurst Village, N.C.

   Both finished among the group tied for 14^th place at 1-under 209 along with teammate Ethan Ng, a junior from New York, N.Y.

   One thing’s for sure. Stanford won’t be No. 66 when Golfstat next updates its rankings and it will likely keep rising in the rankings the closer we get to the postseason. It would be nice to see Menon get a chance to join the party this time.