Tomlinson's Performance in SunTrust Invitational a Promising Sign for Gators
Sunday, February 15, 2015 | Men's Golf, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On the kind of day that keeps postcard makers in business, a story line began to develop on Sunday that seemed fitting under the sun-swept sky at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
In the UF men's golf team's only home tournament of the season, Florida senior J.D. Tomlinson entered the final day of the SunTrust Invitational tied for the lead and stayed there throughout most of the final round.
Adding to the plot, Tomlinson played with his own personal gallery in tow. Tomlinson grew up in Gainesville and honed his game as a teenager at Gainesville Country Club prior to enrolling at UF in 2011.
“It was awesome. I had a lot of family, a lot of friends come in and out,'' Tomlinson said. “At any time there could have been 20 people. It was awesome to have their support and just be able to play in my home city.”
After shooting a first-round 67 and second-round 70, Tomlinson was tied at 3-under par with Kolton Crawford of Arkansas and UAB's Martin Rohwer when play began Sunday. Tomlinson bogeyed the first hole but birdied three of the next 11 to move to 5-under after his birdie on the par-5, 525-yard 12th hole.
While Rohwer fell out of contention for medalist honors with a final-round 77, Crawford kept pace until a double-bogey on the 198-yard, par-3 15th hole cost him severely. Playing a few groups ahead of Crawford, bogies at 14 and 17 dropped Tomlinson to 3-under.
When Tomlinson walked off the green after a par on 18 to finish with an even-par 70, he remained in contention to claim Florida's first individual title at the SunTrust Invitational since Andres Echavarria won a playoff in 2011.
However, as Tomlinson and Crawford faltered down the stretch, USF's Claudio Correa closed with birdies on 16 and 18 to finish at 5-under par and help the Bulls claim the team title by eight strokes over Arkansas. USF finished at 5-under in the 14-team tournament, followed by Arkansas (+3), Florida State (+5), Florida (+14) and Georgia Southern (+27).
Meanwhile, Tomlinson finished tied for second with Arkansas' Taylor Moore, who closed with a final-round 68, in the individual standings. Tomlinson's previous career-best finish was third, accomplished twice, most recently earlier this season at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in Orlando.
Tomlinson was pleased overall at his performance despite the costly bogey on 17.
“I was thinking about going for it and I ended up laying up,'' Tomlinson said of his approach on the next-to-last hole, a 336-yard, par-4 test. “I thought it was the smart decision but it ended up probably not the best one. I laid up and then I just tugged a wedge shot, and if you are left of that pin, you got no chance at two-putting. I ran it by down the hill and just missed coming back.
“I tried to finish as good as I can.”
Florida coach JC Deacon, left, optimistic best is ahead for J.D. Tomlinson. (Photo: Ron Irby)
Tomlinson played significantly better than a year ago when he finished tied for 18th (7-over par) at the SunTrust. So did the Gators.
While Tomlinson was the only Florida player to finish under par, the Gators' three-round total (281-286-287—854) was a 27-stroke improvement from 2014 when the Gators finished 11th at 41-over par.
First-year head coach JC Deacon had high hopes Sunday when play started and Florida trailed leader USF by only nine shots.
“Honestly I woke up this morning and I thought we were going to win the tournament,'' Deacon said. “The guys have been working hard. We are starting to contend every week. It's a long way from finishing 14th [in] our first event. We are constantly there around the leaders. That's where you want to be.
“It's disappointing for us to finish fourth on our home [course]. I don't think three teams should beat us on our home turf, but it happened this week and we'll learn from it and get better.”
The biggest takeaway for the Gators was Tomlinson's play.
When he was hired last summer to replace longtime coach Buddy Alexander, Deacon viewed Tomlinson as a building block in his first season.
The plan is starting to come to fruition after some rough patches as the two got to know one another and Tomlinson bought into Deacon's vision for the program in his final season.
“This was the most focused I have ever seen him this past week,'' Deacon said. “His preparation was phenomenal. He was getting his rest, doing all the things he needed to do. He was out here everyday learning something new about the course. He was just really ready to play and excited. I'm glad it went well for him.”
On Sunday morning at breakfast, Deacon approached Tomlinson to talk about what he might need to shoot in the final round to win the tournament.
Tomlinson said thanks but no thanks.
He didn't want to clutter his mind by thinking about the scoreboard.
“I don't want to know,'' Tomlinson told him. “I want to go out there and do my own thing. I just want to play golf.”
Tomlinson's simple approach paid off. Having played the UF course approximately 200 times over the years, his plan was to play smart and avoid trouble. If he did that, he felt good about his chances and staying in contention for the title.
“I knew the course so I knew where to miss it,'' he said. “I need to take that to other courses. If you can manage the course well, you are not going to shoot too high no matter where you go.”
The Gators will try to parlay an improved outing in the SunTrust into a victory at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Ariz., in three weeks.
Tomlinson will attempt to do the same. Deacon sees a player who has matured over the past few months and one coming into his own.
“The more times he gets around the lead like this, the better opportunity that one day he will shoot 65 and kind of blow everyone away,'' Deacon said. “But I'm proud of him. He had a great week and it's big for us.”
