First Day Recap From Thunderbird Collegiate

Four top-five teams and five top-10 teams competing at Papago Golf Club (par 71/7,317 yards) in the Thunderbird Collegiate led to some low scores and a solid battle coming Saturday for both the team and individual titles, with Sun Devil freshman Josele Ballester leading the 88-player field.

Ballester went 10-under 132 (67-65) to take a one-shot lead over Bastien Amat of New Mexico (67-66) and teammate James Leow (67-66), who is playing as an individual. Aman Gupta of Oklahoma State is at 8-under 134 (69-65).

After shooting 12-over in his first tournament in September, Ballester is now 19-under in the four spring tournaments, with seven of his 11 rounds in 60s.

ASU leads the field at 19-under 549 which included a 13-under 271 in the second round.

SUN DEVIL BEST ROUNDS OF 2021-22 (65 OR BETTER)
63/-8 - Cameron Sisk (Valspar Collegiate first round/Mar. 28, 2022)
63/-7 - David Puig (Maui Jim Intercollegiate first round/Sept. 10, 2021)
65/-7 - Mason Andersen (Amer Ari Invitational first round/Feb. 3, 2022)
65/-7 - James Leow (Amer Ari Invitational first round/Feb. 3, 2022)
65/-7 - David Puig (Southwestern Invitational third round/Jan. 26, 2022)
65/-6 - Jose Ballester (Thunderbird Collegiate second round/April 15, 2022)
65/-5 - Kiko Coelho (Maui Jim Intercollegiate second round/Sept. 11, 2021)

Top-ranked Oklahoma shot 17-under 551 (278-273) and is in second. Oklahoma State, ranked second by Golfstat, shot 16-under 552 (279-273) and is in third.

Sun Devil Mason Andersen is tied for sixth at 5-under 137 (68-69).

Final round action continues Saturday with tee times starting at 7 a.m.

FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
Kiko Coelho (No. 9), Jeewon Park (No. 1) and Gabe Salvanera (No. 9) all had eagles in the first round.

GOOD AT THIS
ASU has won the Thunderbird Invitational 20 times, which it has hosted since 1973. ASU has won 12 of the past 22 (1999-2001, 2003-04, 2008-09, 2014-15, 2017-19).

PAST ASU INDIVIDUAL WINNERS
Eleven Sun Devils have won the individual titles on 14 occasions, while Phil Mickelson (1991 and 1992) and Jon Rahm (2014, 2015 and 2016) are the only multiple winners. Other Sun Devil individual winners include Mark Sollenberger (1974), Jim Carter (1984), Larry Barber (1994), Todd Demsey (1995), Jeff Quinney (2000), Paul Casey (2001), Alejandro Canizares (2003), Stephan Gross (2009/shared) and 2019 winner Chun An Yu.

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THUNDERBIRD COLLEGIATE
PAPAGO GOLF CLUB
PAR 71/7,137 YARDS
PHOENIX, AZ
TEAM LEADERBOARD
Arizona State 278-271=549/-19
Oklahoma 278-273=551/-17
Oklahoma State 279-273=552/-16
New Mexico 277-280=557/-11
Texas Tech 284-273=558/-10
North Carolina 282-283=565/-3
SMU 288-279=567/-1
Baylor 286-283=569/+1
Boise State 285-285=570/+2
South Florida 286-286=572/+4
Oregon State 293-282=575/+7
UNLV 264-291=576/+8
Utah 290-287=577/+9
UCLA 279-286=586/+18
San Francisco 286-301=587/+19

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS AND ALL SUN DEVIL SCORES
1. Josele Ballester 67-65=132/-10
T2. Bastien Amat, New Mexico 67-66=133/-9
T2. James Leow (ASU-IND) 67-66=133/-9
4. Aman Gupta, Oklahoma State 69-65=134/-8
T6. Mason Andersen 68-69=137/-5
T22. Preston Summerhays 74-67=141/-1
T28. Ryggs Johnston 72-70=142/E
T28. Gabe Salvanera (IND) 66-76=142/E
T43. Jeewon Park (IND) 72-72=144/E
T63. Kiko Coelho (IND) 75-72=147/+5
T63. Cameron Sisk 71-76=147/+5