No. 3 Florida defends at Sea Best Invitational, Ryan Orr Medals
Ryan Orr won the individual title
despite not being in the Gators lineup
(Florida Athletics Photo)
PONE VEDRA BEACH, FL (February 7, 2017) -- It was all No. 3 Florida as they defended their Sea Best Invitational title. The Gators began the day at TPC Sawgrass' Dye Valley leading by one but on Tuesday they were able to pull away and win by a comfortable nine-stroke margin.
And believe it or not that margin of victory had nothing to do with medalist winner Ryan Orr. The Gator senior, playing as an individual, overcame a late charge from teammate Alejandro Tosti to win medalist honors.
Also making a final round charge was Lipscomb junior Dawson Armstong. The 2017 Walker Cup practice participant matched the low round of the tournament with a 5-under 65 to move 10 spots up the leaderboard and finish in third at 4-under.
Orr, the overnight leader, teed off on No. 10 and promptly bogeyed his first hole before finding his form with 13th and 18th hole birdies. Turning in 1-under 34 the rest of the day was dedicated to holding on and Orr did just that despite two second nine dropped shots.
For Orr the victory was the first of his career after previously not finishing higher than fourth. His latest fourth place finish had been a year ago in the same event.
The top Gator in the lineup was the 5-under Alejandro Tosti. A sophomore, Tosti pulled into a share of the lead with the entire back nine remaining but a side of eight pars and a bogey on the 17th left him one shot short.
For Florida, sophomore Gordon Neale turned in T5, 2-under performance while teammate Sam Horsfield shared 18th at 5-over.
With the victory Florida now has three wins this season after capturing the Windon Memorial Classic and Tavistock Collegiate Invitational titles in the fall.
Behind Florida in the team standings it was Lipscomb in second place at 4-over, Liberty in third at 9-over, Arkansas in fourth at 13-over and in fifth No. 16 North Carolina after a disappointing day that saw them fall to 15-over.
ABOUT THE
Sea Best Invitational
54-hole men's college tournament
hosted
by the University of Jacksonville at Atlantic Beach CC. Team (best four out of five players each
round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information