Ian Gilligan shot his eighth consecutive round of par or better this spring with Florida four back from the lead.
LAS VEGAS – Florida men’s golfer Ian Gilligan won his first tournament as a Gator at the Southern Highlands Collegiate on Tuesday. The victory earns him an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open later this October.
The Gators finished fourth with a team score of 868 (+4) for the fifth team top-5 finish of the season. Oklahoma won the event at 8-under followed by Auburn (-5) and Texas (+2).
Gilligan’s victory marked back-to-back medalist honors at the tournament by a Gator as Yuxin Lin, who was also a transfer, was last year’s champion. The native of Reno, N.V., Gilligan has put together a hot start in the spring with nine consecutive rounds of par or better, eight straight under-par rounds and finishes of 2-3-1. Through the first three spring tournaments he owns a stroke average of 69.3 and a match play victory.
He entered the day two shots back of the lead and went on to win with a 54-hole score of 208 (-8). Gilligan recorded all three rounds under par; 67-71-70. The Long Beach State transfer made the turn with a one-shot lead and pulled away behind three consecutive birdies on holes 11-12, a stretch of a par-4, par-3 and par-5.
The individual victory is the 23rd under head coach J.C. Deacon. Gilligan joins Matthew Kress, who won snagged his first collegiate win in the fall at the Georgetown Intercollegiate. Kress had the next best finish in T29.
The pair of Parker Bell and Luke Poulter both finished tied for 46th, followed by individual John DuBois T68. Two shots behind Kress was Tyler Wilkes at T34.
Florida has two weeks off before returning to action at the Schenkel Invitational (March 15-17) at Forest Heights in Statesboro, Ga. and then the regular season finale at the Calusa Cup (April 7-9) in Naples, Fla.
Florida Scores
Place Name Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Score
1 Ian Gilligan 67 71 70 208 (-8)
T29 Matthew Kress 69 77 73 219 (+3)
T34 Tyler Wilkes 70 76 74 220 (+4)
T46 Luke Poulter 72 77 74 223 (+7)
T46 Parker Bell 72 79 72 223 (+7)
T68 John DuBois (I) 72 79 79 230 (+14)
Team Leaderboard
Place School Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Score
1 Oklahoma 284 291 281 856
2 Auburn 287 295 277 859
3 Texas 284 295 287 866
4 Florida 278 301 289 868
5 Illinois 280 302 287 869
6 San Diego State 282 298 291 871
7 North Carolina 283 295 294 872
8 Missouri 290 294 291 875
9 New Mexico 286 301 289 876
T10 Texas A&M 282 302 302 878
T10 Georgia 297 297 284 878
12 Pepperdine 282 304 293 879
13 UNLV 291 298 292 881
14 Arizona State 287 296 299 882
15 TCU 292 301 301 894
###
