Solar Devil The 87th Masters Tournament is won by Jon Rahm
Green Jacket exchanged for Maroon and Gold.
The 87th Masters Tournament was won by Jon Rahm, who shot 12-under par to win by four shots. In the four rounds, he carded 65-69-73-69, totaling 276/-12. With the victory, which is his second major championship, he has reclaimed the top spot in the world rankings.
The 2016 Arizona State Bachelor of Arts in Communications is the first Sun Devil to win the most prestigious golf tournament since Phil Mickelson in 2010 and just the second man in program history.
Rahm won an appalling 11 tournaments while a Sun Devil, and in his junior year, he posted the third-lowest scoring average in college golf history. He was a two-time first team All-American while wearing the Maroon and Gold and earned the 2015 and 2016 Ben Hogan Awards as the finest collegiate golfer in the nation.
He presently holds the second-most professional tournament victories (after Mickelson’s resounding 42 victories) with 11 victories in professional competitions, including two majors (The 2021 US Open).
After shooting a 7-under 65 on Sunday, the three-time winner Mickelson tied for second place and recorded the lowest final round score of his remarkable Masters career. With a score of 71-69-75-65=280/-8, he is the oldest player to ever place in the top five at Augusta National. He is 52 years old.
Following Ohio State’s 1975 pairing of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf as the victor and runner-up in the same Masters Tournament, Arizona State is now only the second university in history to accomplish this feat. ASU has now joined Texas, Houston, and Stanford as one of four universities with multiple Masters winners.
At Augusta National, schedule was severely disrupted by severe weather throughout the weekend, with the top contenders concluding the third round on Sunday morning. Rahm started the final day of play four strokes behind Brooks Koepka and finished the 54 holes at 9-under, two strokes back.
Rahm improved to 10-under par for the tournament after birdying the fourth hole, a 495-yard par 4. Koepka bogeyed the fourth and tied the first two together.
Rahm made a clever putt to salvage par on the sixth hole while Koepka bogeyed, propelling the Sun Devil to the lead.
Rahm’s lead continued to grow on the par-5, 570-yard eighth hole. After three shots, he was just short of the green, but he struck a magnificent wedge shot that resulted in a tap-in birdie. He now has a tournament total of 11-under par, including a final-round score of 2-under, moving him two strokes ahead of Koepka.
The ninth hole was bogeyed by both players, but Rahm ended the front nine holes at 10-under par, one stroke better than Koepka and a resurgent Jordan Spieth, who finished at 8-under just before Rahm got to the green on 10.
Rahm made the final separation as the back nine came to midway. With birdies on holes 13 and 14, he moved to 12-under par, four strokes better than Mickelson.
The spectators on the course cheered when he made a birdie on the par-4, 440-yard 14th hole.
The rest of the way, Rahm maintained his 12-under par, and Koepka never got any closer than three shots behind.
Wins at the Jon Rahm College Tournament (11)
2016 NCAA Regional in Albuquerque (May 16-18)
Pac-12 Championships of 2016 (Apr. 29-May. 1)
Thunderbird Invitational 2016 at ASU (Apr. 2-3)
Tavistock Invitational 2015 (Oct. 18-20)
2015 NCAA Regional in San Diego (May 14-16)
Thunderbird Invitational 2015 at ASU (Apr. 3-4)
Duck Invitational for 2015 (Mar. 23-24)
Bill Cullum Invitational 2014 (Oct. 20-21)
Thunderbird Invitational 2014 at ASU (Mar. 21-23)
San Diego Classic 2013 (Mar. 11-12)
Bill Cullum Invitational 2012 (Oct. 21-22)
WINS IN THE MOST SUN DEVIL MEN’S GOLF TOURNAMENT
16 Jon Rahm (2012-present), 11
Billy Mayfair (1984-88),8
Phil Mickelson (1988-92),
(2002–2006) Alejandro Canizares, 6
Charlie Gibson, 6 years (1972–1975)
(1997–2000) Paul Casey, 6
(5) Todd Demsey (1991–1995)
LOWEST 54-HOLE SUN DEVIL SCORE (1993-94 TO PRESENT)
192/-21 for Jon Rahm (2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
195/-15 for Jon Rahm (2015 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
197/-13 Jesper Kennegard (2008 UH Hilo Invitational)
198/-18 Benjamin Alvarado (2007 NCAA West Regional in Tempe)
A. Canizares, 200/-16 (2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
201.15 Jeff Quinney (1999 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
STROKE AVERAGE FOR THE BEST NCAA SEASON
Wake Forest, 2003–2004, 68.93 Bill Haas
Stanford’s Maverick McNealy, 2014–15, 69.05
Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, 2014–15, 69.15
