Florida Gators
SunTrust Gator Invitational
Florida’s J.D. Tomlinson Leads the Way in the SunTrust Gator Invitational
Sunday, February 15, 2015 | Men's Golf
Gainesville native J.D. Tomlinson led the University of Florida men's golf team on the opening day of the SunTrust Gator Invitational, shooting a 3-under 137 to earn a share of first place. As a team, the Gators recorded a 7-over 567 to snag the fourth-place position entering the final round Sunday.
Four additional Gators finished Saturday in the top 20. Alejandro Tosti recorded a 2-over 142, good for a share of 13th, Eric Banks shot a 3-over 143 to tie for 15th and both Ryan Celano and A.J. Crouch tied for 20th with 5-over 145.
USF finished the first two rounds in first with a 2-under 558. In the individual competition, Arkansas' Kolton Crawford and UAB's Martin Rohwer share the top spot on the leaderboard with Tomlinson.
The Gators look to move up in the standings during the final round at the Mark Bostick Golf Course on Sunday, when tee times begin at 8 a.m.
Head Coach JC Deacon:
On how the Gators played Saturday:
“It's been the same thing as all year. We didn't play great today. Our attitudes are good and we're hanging in there. We're not playing our best golf during the events, so we just have to play better tomorrow -- no sugar coating it. We just have to go out and play a better round of golf tomorrow. I think the guys are ready and prepared to do it. We just have to go and execute.”
On J.D. Tomlinson's performance Saturday:
“I'm really proud of him. It's his last Gator Invitational. It was a really big week for him. He put a lot of pressure on himself, and for him to go out and play well like that is awesome. I'm really happy for him. This has been probably the most focused week of hard work that he's had all year. I don't know what got into him, but he was just so dedicated in everything he was doing. Obviously, it paid off today, so I'm happy for him.”
On his thoughts entering the final round:
“I hope we have our best round of the year tomorrow. It's our home course. It's going to be beautiful weather. The course is perfect; it's in great shape. We've been playing well at home, and tomorrow is a day when we need to come out and have our best day of the year.”
Senior J.D. Tomlinson
On his performance Saturday:
“The round started really cold, and then the afternoon got really windy. The conditions were pretty tough. The greens were firm and fast. I tried to keep the ball in the middle of the greens. I think we did pretty well as a team.”
On his last home tournament:
“I had a lot of people out there from Gainesville – a lot of family and a lot of friends. It was nice seeing everyone out there.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Florida Players after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Player | Score |
| T1 | -3 (67-70-137) | |
| T13 | Alejandro Tosti | +2 (71-71-142) |
| T15 | +3 (71-72-143) | |
| T20 | +5 (70-75-145) | |
| T20 | +5 (72-73-145) | |
| T32 | +7 (74-73-147) | |
| T38 | +9 (72-77-149) | |
*Denotes playing as an individual
Tournament Field Results:
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Team Scores after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | South Florida | -2 (275-283-558) |
| 2 | Arkansas | E (280-280-560) |
| 3 | Florida State | +3 (279-284-563) |
| 4 | FLORIDA | +7 (281-286-567) |
| 5 | Vanderbilt | +23 (293-290-583) |
| 6 | Liberty | +24 (290-294-584) |
| 7 | UAB | +25 (295-290-585) |
| T8 | Georgia Southern | +27 (296-291-587) |
| T8 | Georgia State | +27 (293-294-587) |
| 10 | North Florida | +30 (294-296-590) |
| 11 | Mercer | +34 (299-295-594) |
| 12 | UCF | +37 (309-288-597) |
| 13 | College of Charleston | +38 (302-296-598) |
| 14 | Jacksonville | +46 (307-299-606) |
| SunTrust Gator Invitational – Individual Top 10 after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| T1 | Kolton Crawford (Arkansas) | -3 (68-69-137) |
| T1 | J.D. Tomlinson (FLORIDA) | -3 (67-70-137) |
| T1 | Martin Rohwer (UAB) | -3 (66-71-137) |
| T4 | Chase Koepka (South Florida) | -2 (71-67-138) |
| T4 | Rowin Caron (Florida State) | -2 (71-67-138) |
| T4 | Claudio Correa (South Florida) | -2 (65-73-138) |
| T7 | Jack Maguire (Florida State) | -1 (69-70-139) |
| T7 | Taylor Moore (Arkansas) | -1 (69-70-139) |
| T9 | Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt) | E (68-72-140) |
| T9 | Hank Lebioda (Florida State) | E (68-72-140) |
Follow the Gators: Play will continue Sunday with the third and final round of the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course at UF, where tee times begin at 8 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with full results will be posted on GatorZone.com following the day's play.
For complete coverage of the Gators' men's golf program, visit GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Men's Golf page on Facebook.
