Sun Devil Men's Golf Finishes Tied For Third at Ben Hogan Invitational

Fort Worth, Texas - Ryggs Johnston carded a 3-under 67 in Tuesday's third round as Arizona State finished the Ben Hogan Collegiate tied for third overall. 

Johnston (70-74-67=211/+1) was tied for 42nd going into the third round. With the help of his six birdies, four coming on the back-9, Johnston finished tied for 22nd along with fellow Sun Devil Michael Mjaaseth (71-68-72=211/+1 in the same position). Mjaaseth put up three birdies on the back-9, helping catapult the Sun Devi up the leaderboard.

"I loved how Ryggs responded after bogeys on holes five and six," Head Coach Matt Thurmond said. He came right back with birdie and got on a heater.  He's had an awesome start to the season and that round was big for us today.  It was another excellent event for us.

Preston Summerhays (75-63-69=207/-3) was the highest placed Sun Devil in a tie for eighth and remained steady in the third and final round of the Ben Hogan Invitational by shooting 1-under 69, carding just two bogeys. Today's 1-under 69 was his team-high sixth round under 70 this season.

"This was a big week for us," Associate Coach Thomas Sutton said. "Everyone contributed and when we hit a rough patch the guys were able to bounce back. Colonial is such a tough course and they competed till the end. Wins will come for us. We keep getting better each week and these experiences will be big for us as the season progresses."

Another consistent outing from Joesele Ballester (69-70-70=209/-1) helped keep the Sun Devils in great shape to hold their third place position. Ballester finished tied for 15th shooting even for the second round in a row. ASU was aided by 50 birdies in three rounds, just one behind North Carolina's tournament-high 51. ASU was also second to the Tar Heels on par-4 holes, carding 3-over on such holes for the tournament .

The Sun Devils will have a three week break before their final tournament of the fall when they tee off in the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, GA on Oct. 24.

SUN DEVILS AND LEADERS:
1) Gustav Frimodt, TCU 71-66-65=201/-9
T8) Preston Summerhays 75-63-69=207/-3
T15) Josele Ballester 69-70-70=209/-1
T22) Ryggs Johnston 70-74-67=211/+1
T22) Michael Mjaaseth 71-68-72=211/+1
T74) Kiko Coelho 77-71-76=224/+14