Former ASU stars lead European Solheim Cup team
Coach Missy Farr-Kaye talks about 5 ASU golfers at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Alessandra Fanali (Italy), Alexandra Forsterling (Germany), Carlota Caging (Spain), Azahara Munoz (Spain) and Linn Grant (Sweden) from ASU at the Olympic Games.
Former Arizona State golfers Anna Nordqvist, Carlota Ciganda and Linn Grant have been named to the European team for the 2024 Solheim Cup.
The event will take place from September 13 to 15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The former Sun Devils are looking to continue their European winning streak; the Americans have not won a Solheim Cup since 2017.
Nordqvist will compete as vice-captain, as she did in 2023. This will be her ninth appearance, surpassing fellow Swedes Annika Sorenstam, Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson. “There is no greater honour than representing Europe at the Solheim Cup, so I am delighted to have been selected for my ninth Solheim Cup,” said Nordqvist.
This is Ciganda’s seventh appearance and Grant’s second.
Azahara Munoz is a member of the Hall of Fame
Former ASU golfer Azahara Munoz was inducted into the 2024 Sun Devils Hall of Fame along with six others. “We are extremely proud of Aza and all she has accomplished in her illustrious career,” Sun Devils golf coach Missy Farr-Kaye said in a statement. “She is a proud Sun Devil and more than deserving of this honor.”
In 2008, Munoz won the NCAA individual title and in 2009 she helped the Sun Devils win the national team title, the seventh in school history. She is one of only four four-time All-Americans from the ASU women’s golf team. Hall of Fame inductees will be honored during halftime of ASU’s Oct. 5 football game against Kansas.
Product advancements at Xavier College Prep
Former ASU golfer Ashley Menne, who is from Phoenix Xavier College Prep, finished first in the LPGA Q-Series pre-qualifying round in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Sunday. Menne finished 16 under par, three shots ahead of the field. The best 95 and ties advance to the LPGA Q-Series qualifying round, which will be held Oct. 15-18 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida. There will be a final qualifying round for 2025 LPGA Tour cards in December.
Preston Summerhays of ASU is the number 1 player in the nation
According to the PGA Tour University preseason rankings for the class of 2025, Sun Devils senior Preston Summerhays is the top-ranked golfer in college golf.
The list consists of rising seniors for the 2024-25 season, and the winner will receive a PGA Tour card. Summerhays is a four-time collegiate winner, including the Thunderbird Collegiate last April, and has already played in 12 PGA Tour-sanctioned events in his career. Previous winners include Michael Thorbjornsen of Stanford (2024), Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech (2023), Peirceson Coody of Texas (2022) and John Pak of Florida State (2021).
Scottsdale golfer promoted to PGA Tour
Matthew McCarty of Scottsdale, who grew up playing in Junior Golf Association of Arizona tournaments, won his third Korn Ferry Tour tournament in the last six weeks on Sunday, earning an instant promotion to the PGA Tour. McCarty is now exempt from the PGA Tour’s fall FedExCup tournaments and the entire 2025 season.
McCarty won the Albertson’s Boise Open to secure the coveted three-victory promotion, making him the first Korn Ferry player since 2016 to win three events in a season.
