COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State's Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) has been named the Mountain West Men's Golfer of the Week, the league announced Friday. It is the first career league accolade for the junior.
Guezzale helped the Aztecs to the team title at the Southwestern Invitational presented by Topgolf this week at the par-72, 6,992-yard North Ranch Country Club. SDSU, which trailed after two rounds to Arizona State by seven strokes, rallied in the third round to win by seven in a field that also included the likes of No. 2 Pepperdine, No. 19 Saint Mary's, Louisville, USC, Georgia Tech and California, among others.
Guezzale tied for third place out of 66 entrants at even-par 216 with two of the three rounds consisting of gusty winds and temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s. One of only six players to shoot even-par or better after rounds of 73, 68 and 75, Guezzale recorded the best finish of his career, easily bettering his tie for 14th at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in the fall 2018 season.
Guezzale was one of the key players down the stretch for San Diego State in Wednesday's final round. After starting the round 6-over through his first 11 holes, he went 3-under over the final seven to help the Aztecs pull away late, including a birdie on the 18th to seal the three-shot win.
It was SDSU's third Southwestern Invitational title, first tournament win since claiming the Bill Cullum Invitational on Oct. 14-15, 2019, first win in the championship spring season since winning the Barona College Cup on March 21-22, 2016 and 32nd team title under 18-year head coach Ryan Donovan.
San Diego State is next in action in The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab at PGA West, Feb. 15-17, in La Quinta, Calif.