ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Jan. 6, 2018) – The lead changed hands after every round of the New Year’s Invitational, but in the end UCF senior Kyler Tate went home with the title.

Tate’s win is a product of a mad final-round birdie run that vaulted him from T-6 after 54 holes to first after 72 holes. He started with a bogey at No. 2, then went 4 under from Nos. 5-9. He also had three birdies in his final four holes to reach 5-under 67 at St. Petersburg Country Club.

Tate was T-26 at the Orlando International Amateur at the end of December. Last spring, he finished T-3 at the NCAA Southeast Regional.

At 5 under for the week, Tate clipped runner-up Sampson-yunhe Zheng by two shots. William Wann, a Mississippi State commit, was third another shot back.

Third-round leader Gordan Brixi, who entered the final round with a three-shot lead, tied for fourth with Greyson Porter, last year’s runner-up. Brixi, 16, fell to 77 on Sunday while Porter, a Florida State junior, rallied with a 71 to rise from sixth to his T-4 position.

Graysen Huff and Jordan Batchelor tied for sixth at even par.

Joe Lyons won the mid-amateur division with rounds of 73-73-69-78. Lyons was six shots ahead of Joe Alfieri.

In the senior division, Robert Bechtol won by a two-shot margin over Dennis Monahan.

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