Florida Gators
SunTrust Gator Invitational
Tomlinson Runner-Up at SunTrust Gator Invitational
Sunday, February 15, 2015 | Men's Golf
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida men's golfer J.D. Tomlinson shot a 3-under 207 Saturday and Sunday to earn a share of the runner-up position and lead the Gators to a fourth-place team finish.
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| Gator head coach JC Deacon with individual runner-up J.D. Tomlinson. |
The Orange and Blue recorded a 7-over 287 in the final round to finish the weekend with a score of 14-over 854. Three Gators joined Tomlinson in the top 20, as Alejandro Tosti tied for 11th with his 4-over 214 and A.J. Crouch shot a 6-over 216 to earn a shared 18th spot. Competing as an individual, Ryan Celano tied for 15th with his 5-over 215.
South Florida won the event with a 5-under 835. Bulls' freshman Claudio Correa took the crown in the individual competition, firing off rounds of 65-73-67 to complete the tournament with a 5-under 205.
The Gators return to competition on March 6-7, when they take on the field at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. Hosted by Michigan, the tournament will be played on the Desert Mountain Outlaw Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Watch the GatorVision recap of the SunTrust Gator Invitational here.
Head Coach JC Deacon:
On the team's performance Sunday:
“I thought we were going to win the tournament. The guys have been working hard. Obviously, J.D. (Tomlinson) played great all weekend. He's so focused, and I knew he was going to play well today. We just didn't have it. It's disappointing, but we'll get back to the drawing board. We'll get up early tomorrow morning with a 5:30 a.m. workout. We'll get back at it and get it going, so we'll be okay.”
On J.D. Tomlinson's tie for second:
“This was the most focused I've ever seen him this past week. His preparation was phenomenal. He was getting his rest, doing all the things he needed to do. He was out here every day learning something new about the course. He was just really ready to play and excited this week, and I'm glad it went well for him. He played another good round again today.”
South Florida head coach Steve Bradley:
On the team's expectations entering the tournament:
“Honestly, I think our goal was to win. I know we have a pretty good squad, but it was a pretty good field with Vanderbilt and Florida State. Arkansas is playing better and Florida is playing better, so we knew that we had some good competition here, and I think we wanted to come out and make a statement and try to keep working hard. It was a great weekend for us.”
On Claudio Correa's win:
“For him to bounce back today and shoot 3-under and birdie the last hole was tremendous. He was pretty disappointed yesterday afternoon after his morning 65 and then not playing particularly well in the afternoon and was pretty down on himself. For him to be a freshman and rebound the way he did and put it all together, I was extremely proud of him.”
South Florida freshman Claudio Correa:
On his individual performance:
“The course was in perfect shape. It was really nice. Yesterday, in the morning, I felt really good. I had a 65, and then in the afternoon I shot 73, and then today, I just tried to do the same as I did yesterday morning. I tried to enjoy golf and tried to do well for my team.”
On his team's win:
“I think our team is really good this year. We think that we can win every tournament, so we'll go with that expectation.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Final Florida Players | ||
| Place | Player | Score |
| T2 | -3 (67-70-70-207) | |
| T11 | Alejandro Tosti | +4 (71-71-72-214) |
| T15 | +5 (70-75-70-215) | |
| T19 | +6 (72-73-71-215) | |
| T23 | +7 (71-72-74-217) | |
| T46 | +15 (72-77-76-225) | |
| T51 | +16 (74-73-79-226) | |
*Denotes playing as an individual
Tournament Field Results:
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Final Team Scores | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | South Florida | -5 (275-283-277-835) |
| 2 | Arkansas | +3 (280-280-283-843) |
| 3 | Florida State | +5 (279-284-282-845) |
| 4 | FLORIDA | +14 (281-286-287-854) |
| 5 | Georgia Southern | +27 (296-291-280-867) |
| 6 | Vanderbilt | +24 (293-290-286-869) |
| 7 | North Florida | +34 (294-296-284-874) |
| T8 | Georgia State | +37 (293-294-290-877) |
| T8 | Liberty | +37 (290-294-293-877) |
| 10 | UAB | +43 (295-290-298-883) |
| 11 | College of Charleston | +50 (302-296-292-890) |
| 12 | UCF | +63 (309-288-306-903) |
| 13 | Jacksonville | +69 (307-299-303-317) |
| 14 | Mercer | +71 (299-295-317-911) |
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Final Individual Top 10 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1 | Claudio Correa (South Florida) | -5 (65-73-67-205) |
| T2 | J.D. Tomlinson (FLORIDA) | -3 (67-70-70-207) |
| T2 | Taylor Moore (Arkansas) | -3 (69-70-68-207) |
| T4 | Chase Koepka (South Florida) | -2 (71-67-70-208) |
| T4 | Kolton Crawford (Arkansas) | -2 (68-69-71-208) |
| T6 | Hank Lebioda (Florida State) | -1 (68-72-69-209) |
| T6 | Rowin Caron (Florida State) | -1 (71-67-71-209) |
| T8 | Mathieu Fenasse (Liberty) | +1 (68-73-70-211) |
| T8 | Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt) | +1 (68-72-71-211) |
| T8 | Jack Maguire (Florida State) | +1 (69-70-72-211) |
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