MU Golf Heads to ASU Thunderbird Collegiate, Farrell Earns BIG EAST Honors

Marquette continues a stretch of six rounds in eight days, while playing its final tune-up before championship season, at the 47th annual Thunderbird Collegiate, hosted by Arizona State at Papago G.C. this Friday and Saturday.

FARRELL NAMED BIG EAST MALE GOLFER OF THE WEEK

Prior to the opening of Thunderbird Collegiate play, senior Oliver Farrell earned his fourth BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week honor in 2018-19. He started the Mason Rudolph Championship with a pair of sub-70 rounds to finish at 5-under-par and T-11, leading MU in a 10th-place finish. Farrell (67-69-72–208) carded a tournament-best three eagles, including two on the back nine at the Vanderbilt Legends Course in second round play. His 8-under-par total on Par 5 holes was third-best in the tournament.

ABOUT THE EVENT

An impressive 13-team field will participate in the event, including nine NCAA participants from 2018, 20 national champions, and three current top-10 teams in the Golfweek/Bushnell GCAA Top-25. No. 2 Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, Iowa State, Marquette, North Carolina, No. 1 Oklahoma State, Saint Mary's, No. 7 Texas, UCLA, UNLV and Utah make up the field.

The Thunderbird Collegiate field is made up entirely of teams ranked in the top-100 in the Golfstat rankings, with 10 top-50 programs, including 43rd-ranked Marquette.

Marquette Lineup: Austin Kendziorski, Oliver Farrell, Hunter Eichhorn, Tyler Leach, Matt Murlick

Papago G.C. (Par 71, 7,333 yards) is home to the 47th edition of the Thunderbird Collegiate, which ASU has won in 11 of the past 20 years. Past individual winners include three-time medalist Jon Rahm, Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson and Corey Pavin.

Play opens with 36 holes Friday, and continues with 18 on Saturday.

The Sun Devils finished second overall at the 2018 Marquette Intercollegiate at Erin Hills, while Alex del Rey finished in second with a 7-under-par 209, one stroke off the lead and one stroke ahead of Hunter Eichhorn's third-place finish.

Eichhorn (No. 91) and Farrell (No. 60) enter tournament play ranked in the top-100 of the Golfstat NCAA Player Rankings.

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The Thunderbird Collegiate is MU's final regular season event prior to the 2019 BIG EAST Men's Golf Championships, set for April 26-28 (Friday-Sunday) at Callawassie Island G.C.