Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If you expected the hottest golfer in the Southeastern Conference – heck, maybe the most sizzling player in the country at the moment – to stroll into the room with an extra dose of swagger, you were thwarted immediately.

Gators junior Ian Gilligan is the boy-next-door type, the kid you hire to mow your yard and care for your dog when you're out of town. He's 21 but could pass for 18.

But don't be fooled. The fire burns deep inside Gilligan when he grips and rips.

"His passion for golf is super high, and it always has been,'' said Grant Gilligan, Ian's father.

Gilligan's backstory is multi-layered, conventional in ways but with a jarring scare that once put his golfing future and life in doubt. Still, the Silent Warrior plays on. He slayed cancer and recently defeated the field at the Southern Hills Intercollegiate in Las Vegas, earning a spot in the PGA Tour's Shriners Children's Open in October.

Gilligan's win also earned him a second consecutive SEC Golfer-of-the-Week honor and headlines on golf websites and news outlets that cover sports in Nevada, where Gilligan grew up after his parents moved from San Francisco to Reno several years ago. One of his former golf instructors, aware of how the young Gilligan approached the game with an all-business manner and amicable demeanor, nicknamed him the Silent Warrior.

It has stuck all these years.

"He would just go out and talk with his play,'' said Grant Gilligan, a former high-level cyclist who competed in Europe and against a young Lance Armstrong back in the day. "He would garner respect by just the way he went out and played."

The sight of Gilligan holding the winner's trophy and posing with Gators head coach J.C. Deacon a few days ago at the Southern Intercollegiate contrasts sharply with the summer when Gilligan was diagnosed with cancer. The shock came after doctors removed a lump in his left armpit and discovered Gilligan had a rare form of lymphoma in June 2018, a month after Gilligan placed fifth in the state championship as a freshman at Galena (Nev.) High.

Gilligan's life was put on hold as he battled stage-4 ALK-negative large cell lymphoma, a cancer that, according to NBCSports.com, is usually found in the elderly and rarely in kids. Gilligan underwent seven rounds of chemotherapy and spent more than 50 days at Renown Children's Hospital in Reno. He lost 40 pounds, but by the end of January 2019, Gilligan was deemed cancer-free and able to resume everyday life.
 

The win in Las Vegas last month meant so much more than just another trophy for Gilligan, who transferred to Florida this season from Long Beach State.

"It's definitely the biggest tournament I've ever won,'' he said. "It's important to know what it takes to win because winning is always super hard. That was definitely a special accomplishment. It's been an awesome journey."

Gilligan's trip to UF has a touch of Tiger, too. After high school, Grant Gilligan moved to San Francisco to work at a friend's cycle shop and train on the city's famous hills. By the time Ian came along, he had ventured into other hobbies, including going to a driving range to hit golf balls as a way to relax. He'd often bring Ian along to watch. The kid paid close attention, whacking golf balls around the family's apartment with a wooden spoon. His dad noticed Ian's high-functioning hand-eye coordination and took note.

Soon, Ian got his first golf club.

"People were just blown away,'' Grant Gilligan said. "We used to sit there at the driving range and drink beer and just watch him. Tiger Woods was huge then. I knew his dad got him into golf very young. That was kind of our guiding light. If Earl Woods had him doing it at 2, let's get Ian doing it and see what happens. I got him a metal golf club, and he started hitting balls with me at 2 years and maybe 3 or 4 months old."

Grant allowed Ian his space as the years passed, and he played T-ball, basketball, football and indoor soccer growing up. But he never strayed far from golf, showing a dedication and discipline that earned him a scholarship to Long Beach State after a highly decorated prep career.

Gilligan ascended to become the top-ranked collegiate player in the country a season ago and was named Big West Player of the Year. With the Gators seeking to replace Ricky Castillo, Yuxin Lin and Fred Biondi from last year's national championship team, Florida showed interest when Gilligan entered the transfer portal. He eventually chose the Gators over Auburn, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

"It was mainly just for the PGA Tour U, the ranking they have for the seniors," Gilligan said of his decision. "It gives you access to the PGA and Korn Ferry Tour if you are ranked high enough. And to get highly ranked on that, you have to have a pretty good schedule, where you are competing against the best players."

Gilligan started slowly in Florida, working through adjustments from playing on West Coast courses to those on the East Coast — grass enthusiasts know the difference between Bermuda and Poa annua. Meanwhile, Deacon and assistant Dudley Hart tutored him on his wedge shots and risk-taking decisions. When Gilligan returned home for the break, he also made mechanical tweaks on his swing with the help of his father and swing coach, George Gankas.

Add it all up, and Gilligan has 2-3-1 finishes in his last three tournaments, including tying a school record with a second-round 62 at the Gator Invitational. The 62 matched the record set by five-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas.

He won the Southern Highlands with a strong back nine in the final round, with birdies on 11, 12 and 13 to take the lead. Grant Gilligan was in the gallery for three days after making the seven-hour drive from Reno to Vegas.

"Sometimes, if he is contending to win, I can get a little nervous," Grant said. "I just want to chill out for a little bit, let him do his thing, and watch on the phone. I did a little bit of that the other day."

The victory was the fifth of his collegiate career and his first with the Gators. He turned the corner following what he called a "transition period" in the fall.

"I was playing some good golf, but I just wasn't seeing the results,'' Gilligan said.

"There was something off,'' Grant said. "He was having trouble getting up to the top of the leaderboard where he felt he belonged. It was getting to be upsetting for him. He knew he was brought in as someone to help replace the three players who left."

With the help of his UF coaches and his team from home, Gilligan has worked his way back to the top.

The Silent Warrior plays on.

"You can get pretty lonely out there,'' Gilligan said. "You really have to stay focused. I fell in love with it. From there, it just kind of grew as a passion."

Considering what he has overcome, the Shriner Children's Open is the perfect event for Gilligan to make his PGA Tour debut. The organization's mission is to help sick children and those children healthy enough can walk alongside players at the tournament.

One of the players this year was one of them not that long ago.

"Every day I'm definitely grateful to be able to compete and have fun and play golf with my friends and teammates, and obviously be able to compete at the highest level in college golf,'' Gilligan said. "I'm pretty lucky to have made it through because there's plenty of people who don't."