One could say there is another ASU Thunderbird Invitational happening at the U.S. Open.
How many Sun Devils have a tee time on Thursday? Let's take a look ABC style:
A: MASON ANDERSEN
Mason Andersen (note it is with an 'e' twice) will play the U.S. Open before he plays any event as a Sun Devil. The 18-year old Hamilton High School graduate and incoming ASU freshman finished second in a 105-man field in Newport Beach last week.
18-year-old Chandler golfer qualifies for U.S. Open https://t.co/Fp92yVQc2f
— Tim Ring (@timringTV) June 14, 2017
He advanced out of local qualifying at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert in mid-May and in sectional qualifying at Big Canyon Country Club and Newport Beach Country Club, where he shot a 64-70. Sunday is Father's Day. So yeah, how cool is all of this. He tees at 2:42 p.m. CT. This past January he finished second at the Tempe Amateur held at Ken McDonald Golf Course with a 10-under 134 (69-65) and then in February he won the San Tan Amateur at Las Colinas with an 8-under 134 (66-68). Then on March 10-12 he tied for fourth at the AGA Championship at Randolph North Course with a 4-under 209 (72-66-71).
Heck of Father's Day gift: Hamilton's Andersen,18, ASU commit, will play in U.S. Open w dad as caddie @greg_macafee https://t.co/QpniUrnyTm
— Paola Boivin (@PaolaBoivin) June 14, 2017
B: BIRDIES
Jon Rahm has 228 birdies on the season. He had 179 in his senior season (just last year if you can believe that) which led the nation. In his 165-round Sun Devil career he had 671 birdies. He tees it off No. 10 at 7:51 a.m. with Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama.
C: CHEZ REAVIE
Chez Reavie pocketed $252,200 at the FedEX St. Jude Classic. The 2015 Sun Devil Hall of Famer came back to school six years after playing and earned his degree and has carved out a solid professional career. He has earned nearly $8.5 million, led by the 2008 RBC Canadian Open win on the PGA Tour and 2007 Knoxville Open and 2015 Small Business Connection on Web.com Tour. He won the 2001 U.S. Public Links Championship, which gave him a spot in the 2002 Masters. He has three top-10 finishes this year, as he tied for fourth at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and at St. Jude Classic and a tie for eighth at Sony Open in Hawaii.
D: DOLLARS
Sun Devils have made $13,605,252 on the PGA TOUR so far this year, the best in college golf. Georgia is second with $13,356,611 but a distant third is Oklahoma State ($8,537,203). Check here below and give these folks below a follow.
New #RivalsCup rankings are posted at https://t.co/3xjPiFToST - Still a 2-horse race at the top, but they are stacking up behind them pic.twitter.com/hsEsVgBekS
— Rivals Cup (@RivalsCup) June 12, 2017
E: EAGLES
Jon Rahm has eight birdies on the year, 18th on the PGA Tour. He had 39 eagles, best in the nation, in his four-year career.
F: #FORKSUP
Just because...
G: GO BACK IN TIME
Thanks to Billy Mayfair for this trip down memory lane of the U.S. Open.
It's U.S. Open week, a time that makes me not only reflect on my 14 Open appearances, but also another great U.S.... https://t.co/PBIBsouq61
— Billy Mayfair (@BMayfairGolf) June 14, 2017
H: HALF (NEARLY HALF OF HIS FINISHES HAVE BEEN TOP 10)
Jon Rahm has competed in 15 tournaments this year and has seven top-10 finishes. Pat Perez has five in 18 events, sixth-best on the Tour.
I: INDIVIDUALLY (AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS)
Paul Casey has had a solid pro career, but it will be hard to top his dominance in one event for anyone. He won all three Pac-10 Championships he competed in as he took home titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000. A big #ForksUp to Paul on his latest commitment.
"Children should not die of starvation in 2017." Pro golfer @Paul_Casey writes about what inspired him to give back: https://t.co/acTiu8R8eU
— UNICEF USA (@UNICEFUSA) May 11, 2017
J: JON RAHM
Not much more needs to be said about this guy, but feel free to check out his Sun Devil career numbers here.
K: CHAN KIM
Chan played one year at ASU (2008-09) before turning pro. He has had a very good summer.
#Golf #GolfNews #GolfBlog Chan Kim is going to have a busy summer thanks to his play over the last six days in.. https://t.co/dTJ8bm3jSi
— Golf Courier (@GolfCourier) May 28, 2017
L: LEGENDS
Chez Reavie, Billy Mayfair and John Jackson Jr. won the U.S. Public Links Championship.
Entering @TheSunDevils HOF 2001 USPubLins Champ Chez Reavie w/Billy Mayfair (1986)/John Jackson, Jr. (1986) also won pic.twitter.com/IfdkPLY3Xc
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) October 5, 2015
M: MAX ROTTLUFF
Max isn't in the U.S. Open, but we want to give him a shout-out on his big weekend.
Hear from Max Rottluff in our latest Winner's Q&A.
— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) June 14, 2017
He chats about his win, and having his Dad on the bag for it: https://t.co/4N1whLbJ8y pic.twitter.com/AAOSzIvcq2
N: NATIONAL CHAMPION PAT PEREZ
Pat Perez, who sits seventh in the FedEx Cup points list with five top-10 finishes, was part of ASU's 1996 NCAA Championship team that took home the title in Tennessee. He has been on a roll in 2017.
Star-Telegram: New clubs, new attitude, Pat Perez is on a roll heading into Colonial https://t.co/85BV7uQyWc
— DFW Sports Update (@DFWSportsUpdate) May 23, 2017
O: OPENING
ASU's will have Papago as its home course soon complete with a great practice facility. Check out this video that describes it all.
The next chapter in Sun Devil Golf history... Papago's Opening Drive https://t.co/7EGh9XiP1k
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) February 15, 2017
P: PHIL MICKELSON
Trying to find something about Phil you haven't already read. Probably not going to happen. So let's just go with the 2015 lemonade stand story because it is awesome.
Q: QUICKEN LOANS INVITATIONAL
This tournament will have a spot in Sun Devil history eventually. Why? It is where Jon Rahm got his pro career started.
R: REAVIE
Chez was inducted into the 2015 Sun Devil Hall of Fame.
VIDEO: Learn more about @ASU_Alumni Chez Reavie from his 2015 @TheSunDevils HOF induction https://t.co/i4FEHLRyf7 @fesjcmemphis @ASUKarsten
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) June 9, 2017
S: $623,626
Last week's FedEx St. Jude Classic resulted in more than $623k earnings with Chez Reavie leading the way with a tie for fourth. Phil Mickelson finished ninth, while Matt Jones and Grayson Murray tied for 18th.
T: TITLES
In case you haven't heard, we will be hosting some big tournaments in the very near future, and hope to bring home more team titles. The men have won two (1990 and 1996) and the women have won a NCAA-best eight, including the 2017 title.
.@TheSunDevils and Grayhawk to host the 2020, 2021 & 2022 NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Golf Championships. #GoDevils pic.twitter.com/Nr2daaSImE
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) June 13, 2017
U: UNDER PAR
Paul Casey shot 10-under par 60 to win the 1999 Pac-10 title in Seattle. Check out the AP story here.
V: VICTORIES
Jon Rahm won 11 tournaments in college, behind only Phil Mickelson (16). Also on the list is Paul Casey with six.
MOST @ASUMENSGOLF TOURNAMENT WINS
Phil Mickelson (1988-92), 16
Jon Rahm (2012-2016), 11
Billy Mayfair (1984-88), 8
Alejandro Canizares (2002-2006), 6
Charlie Gibson (1972-75), 6
Paul Casey (1997-2000), 6
Todd Demsey (1991-95), 5
W: WASTE MANAGEMENT INVITATIONAL
It can be said that the golf world got its first big-time glimpse of Jon Rahm at the 2015 Waste Management Invitational. He put a special number on his back in each of his appearances.
Jon Rahm talks about wearing Pat Tillman jersey: Former Sun Devil Jon Rahm talks about wearing a No. 42 Pat Tillman… https://t.co/NG2gjAxQHV
— Sun City/SCW News (@SC_SCWNews) February 2, 2017
X: WE NEED YOUR HELP HERE
We got nothing for X...tweet your recommendations to @ASUMensGolf.
Y: CHUN AN YU
Chun isn't playing in the U.S. Open, but we have a pretty good feeling he will soon. Just check out the digits in this tweet and you will see why.
Notes, numbers and quotes on 2016-17 season https://t.co/97DfdAabyr Fun year, best is on the way! @ASUKarsten @asufoundation
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) June 9, 2017
Z: ZIP AND ZERO
On June 25, 2016, Jon Rahm was finishing his third round at the Quicken Loans Invitational. Why is that date noteworthy almost a year later? Because at that moment he has made zero dollars as a golfer. One day later he finished tied for third, and on his way to playing in the 2017 U.S. Open he has made $5.5 million in the past calendar year.
Finally, here is your answer: Six Sun Devils will tee it at the U.S. Open this week for sure. Chez Reavie (7:29 CT off No. 1), Jon Rahm (7:51 off No. 10), Chan Kim (12:41 off No. 1), Pat Perez (1:14 off No. 1), Mason Andersen (2:42 off No. 1), and Paul Casey (1:58 off No. 1) are ready to go. Phil Mickelson (2:20 off No. 1) has hinted about being an awesome dad and could miss the tee time. Stay tuned.