Latest news with #SunDevils
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
LIV signs one of golf's top young stars: When will Josele Ballester debut?
LIV signs one of golf's top young stars: When will Josele Ballester debut? Show Caption Hide Caption Scottie Scheffler wins Memorial at course he once watched as a fan From fan to champion, Scottie Scheffler wins the Memorial on a course he once dreamed of playing. PGA TOUR The Arizona State-to-LIV Golf pipeline has another addition. Josele Ballester, the 21-year-old reigning U.S. Amateur champion who finished his college career with the Sun Devils last week, has signed with LIV Golf and will join Sergio Garcia's Fireballs GC at 2025 LIV Golf Virginia, which begins Friday. Ballester and LIV Golf have been connected for some time, dating to before his U.S. Amateur triumph last summer at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. With his amateur career in the rearview, he's turning pro and joining LIV Golf, arguably a bigger signing than any the league had in the offseason. "First and foremost, I want to thank my family, coaches, friends, and Arizona State University for supporting me and believing in me to make it to this step of my career,' Ballester said in a release. 'I am very excited about the opportunity to join Fireballs GC and continue to learn from Sergio and other greats.' GOLFWEEK: All the latest news from around the world Ballester is the latest in a long line of Sun Devils to compete for LIV Golf, including new teammate David Puig, who also joined LIV Golf following a stellar amateur career. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey and Matt Jones are other LIV players who played collegiately at Arizona State. He'll replace fellow Spaniard Luis Masaveu on the Fireballs' roster. Masaveu, who made the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur last year and is good friends with Ballester, will compete this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in place of Puig, who is sidelined with an injury. Ballester won one time as a senior, taking medalist honors at the Fighting Illini Invitational in the fall. He helped Arizona State finish first after the stroke-play portion of the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa last week, though the Sun Devils fell in the quarterfinals of match play. He finished he season ranked fifth in the NCAA golf rankings, placing T-4 at NCAAs and adding a pair of top-10 finishes in the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Bremerton Regional. Ballester finished third in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings, earning a Korn Ferry Tour card in the process. By signing with LIV Golf, he forfeits that card, and everyone else gets bumped up a spot in the standings. Texas A&M's Phichaksn Maichon is the biggest benefactor, moving from sixth to fifth and earning full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the year and an exemption into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He played in three PGA Tour events this season, finishing T-17 in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open and Masters, where he made headlines after urinating in Rae's Creek on the 13th hole, Azalea. He would end up missing the cut at Augusta National Golf Club. Ballester will tee it up next week at Oakmont in the 2025 U.S. Open, as he doesn't have to remain an amateur to use the exemption he earned for winning the U.S. Amateur. But this week, he makes his professional debut for LIV Golf.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester signs with LIV Golf, will debut this week
The Arizona State to LIV Golf pipeline has another addition. Josele Ballester, the 21-year-old reigning U.S. Amateur champion who finished his college career with the Sun Devils last week, has signed with LIV Golf and will join Sergio Garcia's Fireballs GC at 2025 LIV Golf Virginia, which begins Friday. Ballester and LIV Golf have been connected for some time, dating to before his U.S. Amateur triumph last summer at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. Advertisement With his amateur career in the rearview, he's turning pro and joining LIV Golf, arguably a bigger signing than any the league had in the offseason. "First and foremost, I want to thank my family, coaches, friends, and Arizona State University for supporting me and believing in me to make it to this step of my career,' Ballester said in a release. 'I am very excited about the opportunity to join Fireballs GC and continue to learn from Sergio and other greats.' Ballester is the latest in a long line of Sun Devils to compete for LIV Golf, including new teammate David Puig, who also joined LIV Golf following a stellar amateur career. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey and Matt Jones are other LIV players who played collegiately at Arizona State. Advertisement He'll replace fellow Spaniard Luis Masaveu on the Fireballs' roster. Masaveu, who made the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur last year and is good friends with Ballester, will compete this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in place of Puig, who is sidelined with an injury. Ballester won one time as a senior, taking medalist honors at the Fighting Illini Invitational in the fall. He helped Arizona State finish first after the stroke-play portion of the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa last week, though the Sun Devils fell in the quarterfinals of match play. He finished he season ranked fifth in the NCAA golf rankings, placing T-4 at NCAAs and adding a pair of top-10 finishes in the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Bremerton Regional. Josele Ballester of the Arizona State Sun Devils chips during the first round of the Division I Men's Golf Championship held at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 23, 2025 in Carlsbad, California. Ballester finished third in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings, earning a Korn Ferry Tour card in the process. By signing with LIV Golf, he forfeits that card, and everyone else gets bumped up a spot in the standings. Texas A&M's Phichaksn Maichon is the biggest benefactor, moving from sixth to fifth and earning full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the year and an exemption into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School. Advertisement He played in three PGA Tour events this season, finishing T-17 in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open and Masters, where he made headlines after urinating in Rae's Creek on the 13th hole, Azalea. He would end up missing the cut at Augusta National Golf Club. Ballester will tee it up next week at Oakmont in the 2025 U.S. Open, as he doesn't have to remain an amateur to use the exemption he earned for winning the U.S. Amateur. But this week, he makes his professional debut for LIV Golf. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Josele Ballester signs with LIV Golf, joining Fireballs GC in 2025
USA Today
a day ago
- Business
- USA Today
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester signs with LIV Golf, will debut this week
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester signs with LIV Golf, will debut this week The Arizona State to LIV Golf pipeline has another addition. Josele Ballester, the 21-year-old reigning U.S. Amateur champion who finished his college career with the Sun Devils last week, has signed with LIV Golf and will join Sergio Garcia's Fireballs GC at 2025 LIV Golf Virginia, which begins Friday. Ballester and LIV Golf have been connected for some time, dating to before his U.S. Amateur triumph last summer at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. With his amateur career in the rearview, he's turning pro and joining LIV Golf, arguably a bigger signing than any the league had in the offseason. "First and foremost, I want to thank my family, coaches, friends, and Arizona State University for supporting me and believing in me to make it to this step of my career,' Ballester said in a release. 'I am very excited about the opportunity to join Fireballs GC and continue to learn from Sergio and other greats.' Ballester is the latest in a long line of Sun Devils to compete for LIV Golf, including new teammate David Puig, who also joined LIV Golf following a stellar amateur career. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey and Matt Jones are other LIV players who played collegiately at Arizona State. He'll replace fellow Spaniard Luis Masaveu on the Fireballs' roster. Masaveu, who made the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur last year and is good friends with Ballester, will compete this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in place of Puig, who is sidelined with an injury. Ballester won one time as a senior, taking medalist honors at the Fighting Illini Invitational in the fall. He helped Arizona State finish first after the stroke-play portion of the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa last week, though the Sun Devils fell in the quarterfinals of match play. He finished he season ranked fifth in the NCAA golf rankings, placing T-4 at NCAAs and adding a pair of top-10 finishes in the Big 12 Championship and NCAA Bremerton Regional. Ballester finished third in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings, earning a Korn Ferry Tour card in the process. By signing with LIV Golf, he forfeits that card, and everyone else gets bumped up a spot in the standings. Texas A&M's Phichaksn Maichon is the biggest benefactor, moving from sixth to fifth and earning full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the year and an exemption into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He played in three PGA Tour events this season, finishing T-17 in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open and Masters, where he made headlines after urinating in Rae's Creek on the 13th hole, Azalea. He would end up missing the cut at Augusta National Golf Club. Ballester will tee it up next week at Oakmont in the 2025 U.S. Open, as he doesn't have to remain an amateur to use the exemption he earned for winning the U.S. Amateur. But this week, he makes his professional debut for LIV Golf.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Arizona State Unlikely to Return to CFP in 2025, per ESPN FPI
Arizona State Unlikely to Return to CFP in 2025, per ESPN FPI originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Arizona State Sun Devils pulled off one of the most dramatic worst-to-first finishes in recent memory. The Sun Devils went from just three wins in 2023 to 11 victories last season, won the Big 12 title and got in the playoffs. Advertisement This season, the Sun Devils return almost all of their starters from last year's championship squad. Included among those returnees are starting signal-caller Sam Leavitt, pass-catching weapon Jordyn Tyson and 10 talented defenders. In addition, Arizona State suffered zero turnover on its coaching staff. Head coach Kenny Dillingham, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and defensive coordinator Brian Ward are all back this season. Despite all the returning experience and coaching stability, the powers that be at ESPN have ranked the Sun Devils with a Football Power Index (FPI) of 9.8 and a ranking of No. 24, projecting them to win eight games this season. That puts ASU well outside the criteria and threshold to earn a second consecutive CFP berth Advertisement ESPN has stacked the top ten with five SEC and three Big Ten programs. Take the defending national champs, Ohio State, for example. The Buckeyes lost a ton of experience and production to the NFL on both sides of the ball. In addition, Ohio State lost its offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, to the NFL and the Las Vegas Raiders. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has moved on to Happy Valley and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Ohio State will start a new quarterback with little to no college game experience. Yet, ESPN ranks the Buckeyes at No. 4 with an FPI of 23.8 and a projected win total of 10 wins. Texas (28.5), Georgia (26.6) and somehow Alabama (24.2) hold the top three spots, respectively. Advertisement The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs both lost their starting quarterbacks from last season and will start new quarterbacks with little to no college game experience. Texas and Georgia are projecting double-digit victories. Alabama projects to win nine games. Of those eight SEC/Big Ten teams, six will start new, inexperienced quarterbacks. Two will start transfer QBs: Carson Beck moves from Georgia to Miami and Joey Aguilar from Appalachian State to Tennessee. Contrast all the above to a team like Clemson. Dabo Swinney's Tigers are essentially a mirror image of Arizona State. Clemson returns 20 starters from last year's Atlantic Coast Conference championship and CFP team. Advertisement Clemson returns QB1 starter Cade Klubnik, their top three receivers and pretty much their entire defense. ESPN ranks Clemson just outside the top ten, at No. 11, with an FPI of 17.3. ESPN is riddled with SEC and Big Ten bias and this is outright disrespect toward the Sun Devils. But that does not bother Dillingham one bit. He prefers his team to be labeled as an underdog or that they could underachieve this season. Dillingham wants his team to be hungry and not buy into the 'hype.' He wants 100 percent effort, to be the best they can be, in every game. With a wry smirk on his face, Dillingham and the Sun Devils have ESPN and college football right where they want them. Related: Kenny Dillingham Details 'Next Step' in Building ASU Football Program This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Kenny Dillingham turns heads with comparison of Arizona State, Oregon in 2020's
Kenny Dillingham turns heads with comparison of Arizona State, Oregon in 2020's For years, and perhaps decades, West Coast college football fans have wondered why Arizona State isn't a better program. The Sun Devils have been competitive in most seasons, but they have never been great or serious contenders for major bowl games or a national title. It's always been quite the mystery that not even Sherlock Holmes would be able to solve. All the pieces are there. The facilities are good enough. The stadium is good enough. But perhaps the only thing missing was the right man at the helm. But perhaps with Sun Devil alum Kenny Dillingham, ASU finally has the right man. He showed the promise of Sun Devil football last season as they won the Big XII in their first season in the conference and were in the College Football Playoff, where ASU took Texas to double overtime before going down 39-31. According to Dillingham, it was just the tip of the iceberg of what the Sun Devils can do with the program. He wants to emulate the rise of Oregon of the 2000s and Clemson in the 2010s. "You have Clemson this last cycle, from 2010 to 2020. They just showed up. People think they've been around forever," Dillingham told writer Pete Nakos. "You have Oregon from 2000 to 2010. You can go back in history and figure out which teams have shown up in which era. There hasn't been a team in this era, in the 2020s. The lifestyle you have in Arizona, if we can create some staff consistency, and then we're in a league where we can continually compete to win." Clemson won two national championships in the last decade, but have fallen off some. Oregon, meanwhile, is still in pursuit of its first national title, but the Ducks are usually in contention in most seasons. Dillingham's challenge in Tempe now is to keep the Sun Devils consistently in the playoff conversation. They're off to a good start. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
