Puig wins 2nd straight, carries Arizona State to Amer Ari title

The Sun Devil men's golf team brought six golfers to the 30th Amer Ari Intercollegiate this week.

One of them was great. The others were really good, and as a result the Sun Devils earned the team title by 12 strokes over USC.

Sophomore David Puig notched his second straight individual honor -- he won the Southwestern Invitational Jan. 25-27 -- with a 13-under 203 (67-68-68), topping teammate Blake Wagoner (63-71-73) and USC's Sixian Guo (68-68-71) who both shot 9-under 207.

Back to back... pic.twitter.com/fYd6FCw12w

— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) February 5, 2021

Wagoner was playing as an individual, so his score didn't count in the team score, but ASU got excellent play from Ryggs Johnston (8-under 208), Mason Andersen (6-under 210), Cameron Sisk (5-under 211) and Chun An Yu (3-under 313). No Sun Devil finished outside the top 14.

It was a balanced effort, as Puig led the tournament in par-3 scoring (-4) and par-4 scoring (-5), while Cameron Sisk led the tournament in birdies (18) and Ryggs Johnston did the same with two eagles.

It marked the 13th team title in Coach Matt Thurmond's five years at ASU, and the 18th time a Sun Devil had won an individual title in his tenure. Puig became the first Sun Devil to win back-to-back tournaments since Jared du Doit won the Prestige and Amer Ari in February of 2017. The 37-under is eighth-best in school history in the Golfstat era (1993-94 to present) and the second-best outside the state, behind only the 40-under 824 at the 2015 Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational.

- Thanks to Arizona State Men's Golf for this report.