Tiger Godwin wins Florida Amateur Public Links

There was a Tiger on the prowl Sunday afternoon at ChampionsGate Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.

Tiger Godwin, 36, from Bartow, Fla., fired a final round 68 on Sunday to win his first Florida Public Links Championship by one stroke over Richard Donegan (Jupiter) and Marc Dull (Lakeland). Godwin, who began the day four strokes off the pace of 36-hole leader and four-time Florida State Golf Association Player of the Year Joe Alfieri, birdied the final hole to clip Donegan and Dull for the title.

Godwin made three straight birdies to close out his front nine with a 33 and following a bogey on the par-4 10th, made consecutive birdies on holes 12 and 13 to move to 6-under. Godwin quickly answered a bogey on the par-3 17th with a birdie on the final hole to take the clubhouse lead at 6-under 210.

A final round 76 dropped Alfieri out of Sunday contention while Donegan sat at 6-under with four holes to play but settled for a 5-under score of 211 following a bogey on the par-4 16th. Dull, who shot a final round 70, seemed to have the tournament in hand but a bogey on the 17th followed by a double on the closing hole left him one stroke back.

Godwin played professionally on the Florida mini-tours for three years, collecting one win and two top-five finishes, but was reinstated as an amateur by the USGA on May of 2015.

“I didn’t really feel like I had enough time to practice,” Godwin told The Ledger newspaper.

For Godwin, the Florida Public Links title marks his second win in two weeks after he captured his fourth consecutive Youth Villa Classic title on June 1.