Ricky Castillo claimed a first PGA TOUR victory thanks to a narrow one-shot victory at the Puerto Rico Open.
The 25-year-old American, whose only previous professional wins came on the Korn Ferry Tour, entered the final round at Grand Reserve Golf Club with a one-shot advantage and produced a calm start to the Sunday with five consecutive pars in the first five holes. But he then pushed his foot on the accelerator with an eagle at the 6th and a birdie at the 7th to put himself in a more commanding position. Fellow Americans Chandler Blanchet and Blades Brown looked to hunt Castillo down with the latter sinking four birdies on the front nine to find himself level with Castillo at the turn.
Brown then took the lead with another birdie at the 11th with the 18-year-old seeking to become the youngest winner of a PGA TOUR event in the circuits history. However, a disastrous triple bogey at the 13th all but ended his chances of making history.
Blanchet remained in contention and at that stage became Castillo’s biggest threat with the pair level at the 13th. But, Castillo once again inched ahead and kept his composure during the remaining holes to card a final-round 67 and finish on 17 under to cement victory.
“It means a lot,” Castillo said. “I mean, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I was a little kid and be a winner on the PGA TOUR and be able to call myself a PGA TOUR winner is pretty cool now, for sure.”
The triumph means he now receives a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and will be able to take part in the upcoming PLAYERS Championship as well as May’s PGA Championship. But Castillo emphasized the need of wanting to achieve a lot more in the future.
“I feel like this still doesn’t get me into The Masters and stuff like that, so I still have things to look forward to and strive for,” he added.
“That was kind of the positive thing about this event. Regardless if I won or not, I was still going to have things to strive for afterward.”
Blanchet hit a final-round 74 but it was enough for him to finish runner-up on 16 under with Brown in third two shots further adrift.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is THE PLAYERS Championship taking place between 12-15 March at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.