UF MGOLF: Castillo, Lin Anchor Gators Heading into Third Round at NCAA Championship

Ricky Castillo and Yuxin Lin highlighted a round filled with gusting winds and rock-hard greens.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The University of Florida men’s golf team finished the second round at the NCAA Championship today, carding a 27-over par 587 through two days of play and tied for 22nd.

Ricky Castillo continues to flourish in the desert, recording a 1-over par 71 in today’s breezy afternoon conditions and tied for 11th individually. The sophomore had a tumultuous front nine as he adjusted to the dried-out Grayhawk landscape and gusty winds, carding three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey through seven holes to hold an even card at the turn. Like many times before, Castillo’s poise remained securely intact as he made par on every hole on the back nine with the exception of one bogey.

Castillo is one of only 15 golfers in the 152-man field to own an under-par scorecard through two rounds of competition.

Yuxin Lin also finished today’s round with a 1-over par card. The sophomore started fast with back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes before recording two bogeys within three holes leading up to the turn. Another pair of bogeys on the 11th and 13th holes threatened to enlarge his scorecard if not for his clutch birdie performance on the 12th hole. Lin carded even pars the rest of the way to finish 1-over on the day and 3-over par overall to sit in a tie for 33rd place individually.

Joe Pagdin, Gio Manzoni and Tyler Wilkes rounded out the Gators second-round lineup.

The Gators will tee it up tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. ET in the third and final round of competition before the first championship cut. Following tomorrow’s round, the top 15 teams and nine individuals on non-qualifying teams will advance to the final day of stroke play competition.

Head Coach JC Deacon’s Take
On the round…
“It was definitely a difficult afternoon conditions-wise. The scores for most of the late-draw teams are enormous. Gusty winds and very firm greens made controlling your ball difficult. Yuxin (Lin) and Ricky (Castillo) putting up 71s was really solid. I’m proud of both of them. They fought hard. Unfortunately, the rest of our squad wasn’t able to keep the big numbers off their cards. We obviously made some very costly mistakes.”

On tomorrow’s round…
“Fortunately, we have one more day to make it right. I’m going to sub-in John DuBois. He’s worked hard and I think he’s going to give us a big boost tomorrow. We are seven back of the top 15 cut and are not dead yet. All year we have played our best golf with our backs against the wall and I bet that’s exactly what we will go out and do tomorrow!”

Team Leaderboard
Position

Team

R1

R2

Total

1

Oklahoma State

280

274

554 (-6)

2

Oklahoma

280

279

559 (-1)

3

Arizona State

284

278

562 (+2)

4

Pepperdine

279

286

565 (+5)

T5

Illinois

287

279

566 (+6)

T5

North Carolina

288

278

566 (+6)

7

Sam Houston

278

292

570 (+10)

T8

Clemson

287

284

571 (+11)

T8

Wake Forest

287

284

571 (+11)

10

Vanderbilt

293

280

573 (+13)

11

Florida State

281

294

575 (+15)

T12

Georgia Tech

289

288

577 (+17)

T12

Louisville

289

288

577 (+17)

T14

Texas Tech

276

304

580 (+20)

T14

Arkansas

287

293

580 (+20)

T16

SMU

287

294

581 (+21)

T16

Georgia

292

289

581 (+21)

18

Oregon State

286

296

582 (+22)

19

Texas

294

290

584 (+24)

T20

TCU

292

293

585 (+25)

T20

Tennessee

292

293

585 (+25)

T22

Florida

288

299

587 (+27)

T22

San Diego State

286

301

587 (+27)

24

NC State

301

289

590 (+30)

25

East Tennessee St.

300

291

591 (+31)

26

UAB

295

297

592 (+32)

T27

San Diego

292

303

595 (+35)

T27

Liberty

295

300

595 (+35)

29

Little Rock

294

303

597 (+37)

30

San Francisco

301

299

600 (+40)

Player Leaderboard
Position

Name

R1

R2

Total

T11

Ricky Castillo

68

71

139 (-1)

T33

Yuxin Lin

72

71

143 (+3)

T125

Joe Pagdin

73

79

152 (+12)

T132

Gio Manzoni

75

78

153 (+13)

T151

Tyler Wilkes

79

82

161 (+21)

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