Sun Devils Capture 2024 Pac-12 Title

CAREFREE, Ariz. – Sun Devil Men’s Golf defended home turf. Over four rounds at Desert Forest Golf Club, the Sun Devils shot +27 as a team to win the 2024 Pac-12 Championship by a 16-stroke margin.

LEADERBOARD

Ranked third in the national standings, the Sun Devils did more than hold their lead going into the fourth and final round; they expanded on it. The win marks the program’s record thirteenth Pac-10/Pac-12 Championship and Matt Thurmond’s first as the head coach of the Sun Devils. With major conference re-organization on the horizon, this is the last time 10 out of 12 schools will compete in the Pac-12 Championship.

Although the Sun Devils won in dominating fashion, it took a comeback for them to secure the championship. After falling behind during a windy first round, the Sun Devils settled down in the second round, took the lead and never looked back. Given the course's challenges, Thurmond said he reminded his team from the get-go that mistakes will happen, but they will have to forgive themselves and move on.

“Nobody’s immune to it. Everybody’s scorecard has a mess on it and we just had to make sure we responded well to those things, which is what I’m most proud of. No matter what came at us, a lot of bad stuff, we responded well and came out on top in the end," Thurmond said.

The comeback was led by graduate student Ryggs Johnston and freshman Wenyi Ding. Johnston’s performance over four rounds was a microcosm of his team's showing; the Montana-native posted a score of +8 through his first 15 holes, but finished -7 through the final 39 holes and finished one stroke behind the individual champion. He was the only player to card scores in the 60's in each of the final three rounds.

Graduate student Ryggs Johnston tees off on 16 on the final day of the Pac-12 Championship (Photo by Brandon Genson)

Following his first round 78, Johnston knew he had a lot of ground to make up, but there were 54 holes left for him to get even.

“You’ve just kind of got to manage it out here and grind and scrap for everything. It definitely wasn’t pretty, but it was a good tournament for us," Johnston said.

Through the first 72 holes, Ding was the solo leader at -2 and had racked up 14 birdies, which was tied for the most of any golfer through three rounds. Propelled by an eagle on hole nine, Ding was tied for the individual lead as he approached the 16th tee box on Sunday afternoon. While Johnston and Ding led the Sun Devils’ championship win, it took the definition of a team effort to come out atop the conference.

Four Sun Devils finished in the top-15, including freshman Connor Williams and junior Preston Summerhays. Coach Thurmond utilized scores from all six players over the course of the four rounds.

Finishing T15, sophomore Zach Pollo (+11) led University of Arizona Men’s Golf, who finished in ninth place as a team. The Championship also featured stellar performances by several Junior Golf Association of Arizona alumni outside the Sun Devils. Most notably, Oregon State’s Rylan Johnson and Arizona’s Johnny Walker finished T22.

In addition to the team championship, Stanford’s Karl Vilips jumped two spots on the leaderboard on the final day; he finished -2 for the tournament and captured the 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Golf Individual Championship.

The tournament marks the end of an era. With all but two schools headed to other conferences next season, next year’s Pac-12 will only feature Oregon and Oregon State as a plan is worked out for the conference’s future.

Momentum is on the Sun Devils’ side at the right time. Fresh off of wins at the Thunderbird Collegiate and the Pac-12 Championship, the Sun Devils now look ahead to regionals, where they will try to punch a ticket to the NCAA Championships at La Costa Golf Course in Carlsbad, Calif. from May 24-29.