Recent Florida NCAA champion wins playoff in Korn Ferry debut for Wichita Open victory
The resolve that allowed Ricky Castillo to pull out the Wichita Open championship in his first professional start can be traced back to his childhood.
He was raised by two teachers in Yorba Linda, Calif., his father, Mark, instilling an early message to him.
“He wanted me to be a good golfer, but he cared more about me being a good person,” Ricky Castillo said.
So when Castillo was in the thick of the championship race on Sunday at Crestview Country Club’s North course, he wasn’t living and dying with every shot.
Even after a double-bogey on No. 15 that cost him the lead, Castillo was able to bury the mistake in the past and keep his composure. That mindset forged by his father all those years ago helped him stay even-keeled in his professional debut with his first paycheck on the Korn Ferry Tour at stake.
After a three-way tie at 19-under after 72 holes, Castillo prevailed on the first playoff hole against Kyle Jones and Adrien Dumont de Chassart. A two-putt par was all Castillo needed after Jones and Dumont de Chassart missed the green with their approach shots on the par-4 No. 18.
“I had a couple of people tell me that no matter what I shot today, it wasn’t going to define who I was,” Castillo said. “I kind of like that because whether I came out here and shot 10-under or 10-over, it wasn’t going to change who I was.”
Sunday’s win might not change Castillo the person, but it certainly changes the trajectory of his professional golf career.
Just weeks after helping lead Florida to an NCAA team championship, Castillo became just the 19th player in the 34-year history of the Korn Ferry Tour to win in their first start. He will collect a $180,000 check for winning the Wichita Open and the victory significantly increases his chances of earning a PGA Tour card.
“This is my dream,” Castillo said. “I think this is a lot of our dreams to come out here and play professional golf with all of these guys. I was just excited to be here and grateful for the opportunity.”
Dumont de Chassart, who won last week in his Korn Ferry Tour debut, held a four-shot lead entering the final round, but Castillo’s 5-under front-nine allowed him to surge in front and set up a wild finish among the leaders on the back nine.
The most wild swing came within minutes of each other, as Castillo hit his approach shot in the water on No. 15 and took a double-bogey to move from 21-under to 19-under. Almost simultaneously, Dumont de Chassart sunk an eagle putt on No. 14 to move from 19-under to 21-under — a four-shot swing between the top two on the leaderboard.
Dumont de Chassart, who was looking to become just the second golfer in Korn Ferry Tour history to win his first two starts, faltered down the stretch with a two-shot lead, registering back-to-back bogeys to create a three-way tie between himself, Castillo and Jones entering the final two holes.
Jones actually had the best chance to win the tournament, but missed a five-foot birdie putt on the par-3 No. 17 — the best birdie chance any of the three playoff contenders would have on the final two holes.
“A part of me thought (the double-bogey on No. 15) could have been a big chance and opportunity blown,” Castillo said. “I was just trying to think, ‘This is my first pro event, take it one shot at a time and you never know what could happen.’”
Cory Shumate, a caddy on the Korn Ferry Tour, said other caddies suggested he should be on the bag for Castillo in his first tournament. After working with him the whole week at Crestview, the caddy was amazed by the 22-year-old’s maturity.
“He’s such a natural,” Shumate said. “Some guys can get super mechanical about their swing, but he’s just so fluid. Our practice rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, we were done by 9:30 a.m. He comes in, does what he needs to do and he prioritizes rest, which is so mature for his age. He’s just got a lot of composure.”
It’s been a whirlwind week for Castillo, who said he drove from Gainesville, Fla. to Wichita with no real expectations. After celebrating on Sunday night — Castillo said he planned to take his girlfriend out for a nice dinner — he will now drive to Norman, Okla. for the next stop on the Korn Ferry Tour.
A national championship and a professional victory still hasn’t changed him.
“I have to thank (my family) for everything and for being the person I am today,” Castillo said. “I’m super grateful to be in the position I’m in and to have the people that I have in my circle. It’s awesome. I’m really happy with where I’m at and I’m just really happy to be here.”
WICHITA OPEN RESULTS
Final round, par 70
x-won on first playoff hole
(-19)
x-Ricky Castillo...67-62-66-66—261
Adrien Dumont de Chassart...64-64-63-70—261
Kyle Jones...62-66-67-66—261
(-18)
Zach Bauchou...66-69-64-63—262
Parker Coody...69-66-64-63—262
Alejandro Tosti...70-65-67-60—262
(-17)
Brian Campbell...65-67-64-67—263
Jay Card III...64-67-66-66—263
Martin Flores...64-67-64-68—263
Jake Knapp...68-64-69-62—263
Brandon McIver...69-66-66-62—263
(-16)
Mason Andersen...64-69-70-61—264
Dawson Armstrong...67-67-62-68—264
Blayne Barber...65-67-64-68—264
Cody Blick...65-66-66-67—264
Rafael Campos...65-67-64-68—264
Patrick Fishburn...66-64-67-67—264
Brad Hopfinger...67-65-66-66—264
Sung-Hoon Kang...67-63-70-64—264
David Kocher...66-68-65-65—264
Billy Tom Sargent...65-66-69-64—264
Patrick Welch...67-64-67-66—264
(-15)
Alex Chiarella...69-64-69-63—265
Christopher Gotterup...66-68-66-65—265
Chan Kim...64-64-72-65—265
Willie Mack III...66-66-64-69—265
William Mouw...66-68-67-64—265
Jeremy Paul...66-67-65-67—265
John VanDerLaan...69-66-65-65—265
(-14)
Bronson Burgoon...67-64-69-66—266
Davis Chatfield...70-65-65-66—266
Brandon Hagy...65-63-68-70—266
Chandler Phillips...66-64-65-71—266
Jimmy Stanger...64-66-68-68—266
(-13)
Pierceson Coody...67-65-65-70—267
Jeremy Gandon...67-67-67-66—267
Shad Tuten...69-65-66-67—267
(-12)
Ryan Blaum...67-65-70-66—268
Cristobal Del Solar...68-65-66-69—268
Scott Gutschewski...65-67-69-67—268
Jamie Lovemark...67-66-68-67—268
Joseph Winslow...69-64-68-67—268
(-11)
Taylor Dickson...67-64-71-67—269
Michael Feagles...65-66-69-69—269
Joey Garber...70-64-69-66—269
Brendon Jelley ...67-64-71-67—269
Kaito Onishi...71-63-69-66—269
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez...64-66-69-70—269
Ross Steelman...65-67-68-69—269
Jose Toledo...68-64-69-68—269
Danny Walker...66-66-69-68—269
Trey Winstead...66-67-67-69—269
(-10)
John Augenstein...69-65-65-71—270
Zack Fischer...67-68-68-67—270
Fabian Gomez...66-68-67-69—270
Peter Knade...68-65-68-69—270
Andrew Kozan...68-65-68-69—270
Cooper Musselman...68-66-66-70—270
Rob Oppenheim...67-68-68-67—270
Hayden Springer...64-71-65-70—270
(-9)
Wil Bateman...70-65-71-65—271
A.J. Crouch...68-67-65-71—271
Spencer Levin...64-67-71-69—271
Daniel Miernicki...67-67-66-71—271
Dimitrios Papadatos...69-64-70-68—271
(-8)
Matt Atkins...64-67-71-70—272
Ryan McCormick...68-67-64-73—272
Alan Wagner...69-66-68-69—272
(-7)
Fred Biondi...66-67-70-70—273
Dan McCarthy...67-68-69-69—273
Xin-Jun Zhang...67-66-66-74—273
(-6)
Grant Booth...67-66-71-70—274
Clay Feagler...64-68-72-70—274
Max Greyserman...66-67-68-73—274
Jared Wolfe...68-67-66-73—274
(-5)
Louis Dobbelaar...67-68-71-69—275
Dodge Kemmer...64-71-74-66—275
(-4)
Quade Cummins...67-68-71-70—276
(-3)
Joe Weiler...67-65-72-73—277