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Fred Biondi leads Florida to the Sea Best Invitational title

Biondi outduels teammate Ricky Castillo in a playoff to take medalist honors at TPC at Sawgrass (Dye's Valley)

Florida has made a habit of winning the Sea Best Invitational, as the Gators captured the team title for the sixth time on Tuesday at TPC at Sawgrass (Dye's Valley).

While the Gators' 23-stroke victory over North Florida sucked all of the drama out of the team competition, the race for medalist honors between Fred Biondi, currently ranked third in the PGA Tour University rankings, and former U.S. Walker Cup team member Ricky Castillo was far more intriguing.

The Florida teammates found themselves tied at the end of regulation after Biondi birdied the final hole to polish off a round of 64 and join Castillo at 6-under. The Brazilian ultimately prevailed to earn his third collegiate victory.

Eight Gators finished in the top-25, including Giovanni Manzoni, who held the 36-hole lead at 4-under par but let the title slip out of his hands after making bogeys on his final two holes to finish one-stroke out of the playoff.

In his collegiate debut, redshirt freshman Miguel Leal tied for fifth at 3-under 207 following rounds of 66-73-68.

Max Dupree of the College of Charleston was the low non-Gator on the leaderboard, finishing fourth at 4-under 206.
AmateurGolf.com Rankings
2023 season — official results & points
PosPlayerFromScoresPoints
1Fred BiondiBrazil72-68-64=204600
2Ricky CastilloCA65-72-67=204400
3Giovanni ManzoniItaly69-67-69=205300
+74 more — Premium members see every point earnedFull Men's National Ranking

AmateurGolf.com Staff

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