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Next week, House of Sparky will begin our "#SunDevilMoments" tournament, featuring the 16 best moments from the athletic season. This week we will introduce all 16 seeds, then reveal our match-ups where you, the reader, will vote on what was the ASU athletics Moment of the Year.
It's tough to top winning one Ben Hogan Award, which is awarded annually to college golf's top individual golfer.
Arizona State's Jon Rahm managed to do it, however, taking home the prize for a second consecutive year this past May. The Sun Devil senior is the first golfer to ever accomplish that feat, showing just how challenging and rare it is to play at that kind of level for two straight seasons.
Rahm did it by shining individually week in and week out for the maroon and gold, not once finishing outside the top 10 in any of the 13 tournaments he competed in. He took home four individual wins throughout the season, while also finishing inside the top three on three other occasions.
His 11 victories rank second in program history behind Phil Mickelson (16).
Rahm seemed to shift into a second gear as the middle of February rolled around for Arizona State. He led the Sun Devils to a second place finish (and a T3 individually) in The Prestige tournament in La Quinta, California, then posted three consecutive top fives in his next three events, including a win at his home course in the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe.
Postseason play began in April at the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City, where Rahm won another individual title while also helping his team clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. His -12 finish was four shots clear of the next closest competitor that weekend at The Country Club.
Rahm finished first for his second straight event two weeks later in the NCAA Regionals, sewing up a spot for both him and the rest of his team in the NCAA Championships. While competing with the rest of the best players and teams across the country at the national title in Eugene, Oregon, Rahm rolled in a birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the event to finish in a tie for third among all individual competitors.
Arizona State's @littleJRmaza made this birdie putt to cap his career with the Sun Devils. #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/Js0J935K1D
— Connor Pelton (@ConnorPelton28) May 31, 2016
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, his performance was not enough to send his team into the quarterfinals of the tournament. Tim Mickelson's team finished in ninth place, just one spot out of the cut to compete in the match play portion of the event.
Still, Rahm and the rest of the Arizona State golf team had a very successful season, having a shot to win in nearly every event it competed in. Sun Devil fans can watch Rahm compete in next week's U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, which is slated to be his last event as an amateur.
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We saw Rahm's award-winning season as the sixth best moment from the ASU athletic season, however, it will be up the readers to see how far it goes in our #SunDevilMoments bracket.