Saturday, May 29
Scottsdale, AZ
Florida Gators
at
NCAA National Championship
Castillo, Lin Anchor Gators Heading into Third Round at NCAA Championship
Saturday, May 29, 2021 | Men's Golf
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
Player Leaderboard
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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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