Gilligan Debuts at No. 8 in PGA Tour U Preseason Rankings

After transferring from Long Beach State prior to last season, Gilligan was in the lineup for all 14 tournaments and 37 rounds while playing in the No. 1 spot for the last seven events.  The junior was named to the All-SEC Second Team and two-time SEC Golfer of the Week, and earned GCAA/SWING U Golfer of the Month for February. He was also named to Team USA for the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup.

He won his first tournament as a Gator and fifth collegiate at the Southern Highlands Collegiate this spring, earning him an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Shriners Open. In his SEC Championship debut, Gilligan won his quarterfinal matchup in 20 holes vs. Gordon Sargeant of Vanderbilt.

A native of Reno, N.V., Gilligan began the spring portion with finishes of 2-3-1 and a stretch of 12 consecutive rounds of par or better, including six straight in the 60s. In his first Gators Invitational start, he tied the program record for round (by score) with a 62. His stroke average of 71.3 ranked second on the team as he also tied for the team-leading three top-5, five top-10, and led with 10 top-25 finishes. In 37 rounds this season, 34 have counted, 21 for par or better, 10 in the 60’s, team-highs with 137 birdies and six eagles.

Two season ago, Florida had three Gators finish in the final rankings; Fred Biondi (No. 2), Ricky Castillo (No. 9) and Yuxin Lin (No. 10).

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), PGA TOUR University ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible Tournaments include NCAA Division-I men’s team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The Ranking Period for the Class of 2025 began Week 23/2023 and concludes May 26, 2025, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I Men’s National Championship. 

The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking next May will earn PGA TOUR membership, while players Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2025. Additionally, players Nos. 6-25 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA TOUR Americas in 2025. 

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Introduced in 2020, PGA TOUR University identifies the best players in collegiate golf and provides membership opportunities on PGA TOUR-affiliated tours. PGA TOUR University…