The Gators finished 14-under and won the event for the 29th time in program history by 18 strokes. Florida has won the first two spring tournaments by a combined 41 strokes.
After a bogey on 18, Castillo faced Georgia Southern’s Mason Williams in playoff after both were tied at 11-under. Playing in his second straight playoff for individual honors, Castillo wasn’t going to let this one slip in front of his family, who was attending the home event for the first time. Williams went bogey and Castillo sank an emotional par-put to capture his third collegiate victory and second at the Gators Invitational, the event he won his freshman year.
He shot all three rounds in the 60s (67-63-69) and turned in a 63 (-7) in round two, tying the event round record set by Fred Biondi (T6) last year. The round also tied his career-low Castillo shot at the home event in 2020. Florida’s 18th individual champion at the Gators Invitational, he didn’t make a bogey until his last hole in round two. Through 54-holes this weekend, he made 14 birdies compared to only three bogeys; he now has recorded 404 career birdies.
The Florida ‘B’ team ended even overall as Tyler Wilkes notched a career-best finish at 3rd. The junior ended 6-under en route to career-lows for round (66) and tournament score (204). Yuxin Lin was two strokes behind in 4th as he was the second Gator to shoot all three rounds in the 60s (68-69-69).
Recording his third straight top-10 of the season, Giovanni Manzoni placed T9 and redshirt-freshman Miguel continued a strong season finishing tied for 14th highlighted by a round two of 66 (-4).
Florida battled through conditions as the win also marked the 18th under head coach J.C. Deacon and the eighth in the last three seasons as he is tied for third all-time in program history in victories with Lynn Blevins. This is the sixth season with multiple wins with Deacon at the helm as the most under him was six in 2016-17. Last season the Gators also won the Sea Best and the Gators Invitational to start the spring season.
The Orange and Blue travel to Southern Highlands (Feb. 26-28) to wrap up the month of February before the final two regular-season tournaments.
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