Ian Gilligan leads host Florida to narrow win at Florida Gators Invitational

February 16, 2025 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Ian Gilligan (Florida Athletics Photo)

Gilligan defeated Justin Matthews of Charlotte in a playoff to secure the individual title as Florida wins the team title

Ian Gilligan continues to impress for the Florida Gators

Gilligan won the individual title for the Gators over Justin Matthews of Charlotte in a playoff. Florida won the team competition by one shot over Oklahoma State at The Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

Gilligan is currently ranked No. 6 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, and this is his sixth collegiate win.

Gilligan and Matthews finished 8-under to force the playoff. They made a par on the first playoff hole, and Gilligan won on the second hole with a par as Matthews made a bogey.

The Florida standout carded rounds of 66-67-69 to get to 8-under.

Preston Stout of Oklahoma State finished in solo third place at 6-under, Will Morian of Furman finished in solo fourth place at 5-under, and Eric Lee of Oklahoma State finished in solo fifth place at 4-under. Florida trio Matthew Kress, Luke Poulter, and Jack Turner all finished T6.

In the team competition, Florida finished 17-under with rounds of 271-274-278. Charlotte finished in solo second place at 16-under.

Florida Gulf Coast and Georgia Southern finished T3 at 4-under, and Charlotte finished in solo fifth place at 5-over to round out the top five.

According to Florida Athletics, the victory was the 31st overall and 16th sweep (team and individual title) at the home tournament. Florida has now claimed 29 tournament titles under head coach J.C. Deacon in 11 seasons.

This is the seventh season under Deacon the Gators have won multiple tournaments in a year. Gilligan's medalist honors a total of 23 all-time under Deacon at Florida and at least one in the last four consecutive seasons.

Results: Florida Gators Invitational

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Ian Gilligan	Reno, NV	600	66-67-69=202
2	Justin Matthews	, Canada	400	69-64-69=202
3	Preston Stout	Richardson, TX	300	70-68-66=204
4	Will Morlan	Alpharetta, GA	300	66-70-69=205
5	Eric Lee	Fullerton, CA	300	70-68-68=206