Round of 32
Region 3: Individual Performances
No. 4 Will Sutton's Breakout 2012 Campaign vs. No. 5 Jon Rahm's 9-Under Par NCAA Tournament Round
The Case for "Will Sutton's Breakout Campaign": How are you not going to vote for the face of Arizona State Athletics' coming out party? In 2012, Sutton made a name for himself as the nation's top interior defensive lineman. Among the many accolades he earned in the process were the Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year award as well as All-Pac-12 and consensus All-American honors (becoming only the 18th Sun Devil to unanimously be named to the team).
And there's little denying he earned all the hype. Sutton led the team with 23.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks, some gaudy numbers considering he was being double-teamed in the middle most plays. The craziest part of it all is that if he didn't essentially miss two full games with a knee injury, he might have set some national records as his 1.92 TFL per game and 1.08 sacks per game average were both top-3 in the country.
Sutton rewarded us by coming back for his senior season so shouldn't we reward him by voting him on to the next round?
The Case for "Jon Rahm's Phenomenal Round": While most Arizona State students were well into their summer vacations, Sun Devil freshman Jon Rahm was still making headlines around campus. The Sun Devil golf team traveled to the NCAA Championship in late May and Rahm delivered a performance for the ages.
While the freshman was certainly a revelation at times this season, he saved his best effort for one of his most important rounds of the year. In the first round of the NCAA Championship, Rahm blew away the competition and fired a 9-under 61 at The Capital City Club's Crabapple Course. Rahm's round set the competitive course record and landed him atop the NCAA Championship leaderboard after the first round.
In total, Rahm sunk ten birdies and shot just one bogey in his awe-inspiring round. Ultimately, the freshman didn't come out on top, but his scary-good first round served as a reminder to the talent he brings to the course on a daily basis.