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