Florida Gators
John Hayt Invitational
Florida Men's Golfer Phillip Choi Wins John Hayt Invitational
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 | Men's Golf
Florida men's golf sophomore Phillip Choi (Orlando, Fla.) recorded his first-career win at the John Hayt Invitational in Ponte Vedra, Fla. at the Sawgrass Country Club on Tuesday. As a team, the Gators finished in a tie for sixth.
Choi started the day well with birdies on the first two holes, then made a bogey on hole three. He made three more birdies on holes five, seven and 11 before making a double bogey on the 15th hole to score a career-best 209 (-7).
With the win, Choi has finished in the top 10 in the last five of the six tournaments the Gators have played in the 2010-11 season. He has continuously improved his score and tied for first in the Gator Invitational on Feb. 13 before falling to teammate Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) in a four-person playoff.
He is the third Florida men's golf team member to win a tournament this year after senior Bank Vongvanij (Bradenton, Fla.) won the Isleworth Invitational on Oct. 26 and the JU Invitational on Feb. 1 and Echavarria won the Gator Invitational.
“I'm awfully proud of Phillip Choi,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “He's been terrific for us and I give him a lot of credit. He is playing with a lot of confidence and is evolving into quite a player.”
The Gators finished behind four Southeastern Conference foes Arkansas, Auburn, LSU and Tennessee and tied with Ole Miss. Arkansas won the tournament after shooting five under par on the third day and finished with a total score of 867.
“It was a disappointing day, to be honest,” said Alexander. “We couldn't get a good score. We have been so consistent and just didn't have that consistency this weekend.”
Vongvanij made three birdies and three bogeys to shoot even par on the day and finish the tournament tied for 15th. Junior Michael Furci (Sayville, N.Y.), sophomore Tyler McCumber (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) and freshman Payne Denman (Riverwatch, Tenn.) finished with a score of 213, 232 and 240 respectively.
Florida will be back in action when it travels to Bandon Ore. on March 11 and 12 to compete in the Bandon Dunes Championship.
Final Team Results
| Place | Team | Round One Score | Round Two Score | Round Three Score | Total |
| 1 | Arkansas | 285 | 299 | 282 | 866 (+2) |
| 2 | Auburn | 282 | 295 | 292 | 869 (+5) |
| 3 | LSU | 284 | 300 | 287 | 871 (+7) |
| 4 | UCF | 289 | 297 | 293 | 879 (+15) |
| 5 | Tennessee | 289 | 295 | 298 | 882 (+18) |
| T6 | FLORIDA | 286 | 304 | 295 | 885 (+21) |
| T6 | Ole Miss | 293 | 300 | 292 | 885 (+21) |
| 8 | Tulsa | 290 | 308 | 292 | 890 (+26) |
| 9 | TCU | 282 | 304 | 306 | 892 (+28) |
| 10 | Coastal Carolina | 287 | 310 | 298 | 895 (+31) |
| 11 | Mercer | 294 | 303 | 301 | 898 (+34) |
| 12 | UNF | 292 | 309 | 303 | 904 (+40) |
| 13 | Georgia Southern | 292 | 311 | 307 | 910 (+46) |
| 14 | Jacksonville | 307 | 297 | 308 | 912 (+48) |
| 15 | UAB | 297 | 312 | 304 | 913 (+49) |
Final Top 10 Individuals
| Place | Player (School) | Round One Score | Round Two Score | Round Three Score | Total |
| 1 | PHILLIP CHOI (FLORIDA) | 68 | 71 | 70 | 209 (-7) |
| T2 | Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas) | 69 | 70 | 73 | 212 (-4) |
| T2 | Blayne Barber (Auburn) | 68 | 71 | 73 | 212 (-4) |
| 4 | Michael Hebert (Auburn) | 69 | 73 | 71 | 213 (-3) |
| 5 | Jonathan Randolph (Ole Miss) | 73 | 69 | 72 | 214 (-2) |
| T6 | Greg Eason (UCF) | 72 | 73 | 70 | 215 (-1) |
| T6 | Robin Wingardh (Tennessee) | 68 | 74 | 73 | 215 (-1) |
| T8 | Connor Arendell (UCF) | 68 | 75 | 73 | 216 (E) |
| T8 | Ken Looper (LSU) | 70 | 75 | 71 | 216 (E) |
| 10 | Joe David (Ole Miss) | 70 | 72 | 75 | 217 (+1) |
Final Florida Results
| Place | Player | Round One Score | Round Two Score | Round Three Score | Total |
| 1 | Phillip Choi | 68 | 71 | 70 | 209 (-7) |
| T15 | Bank Vongvanij | 69 | 78 | 72 | 219 (+3) |
| T56 | Michael Furci | 78 | 81 | 72 | 231 (+15) |
| T64 | Tyler McCumber | 71 | 80 | 81 | 232 (+16) |
| 77 | Payne Denman | 82 | 75 | 83 | 240 (+24) |
