The road to success in professional golf is often long and winding. Sure, there are exceptions (think Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Jordan Spieth), but for most people, it takes time to find success on a professional level.
This is due in part to the structure of professional golf. For years, there have been limited options for advancing through the professional ranks. Either you went through Q School and worked your way through the development circles, or you took advantage of early sponsor exemptions and got a card in limited starts.
Now, there’s a different path to the PGA Tour, and it comes from the PGA Tour U. With this new program, golfers who play well in college can start their careers with some After they graduate, which makes things a little easier at the start of their careers.
One such player who has benefited from this program is Ricky Castillo (pronounced cuh-STILL-ee-oo). The 22-year-old graduated from the University of Florida this spring, and thanks to his play for the Gators, he jumped to the Corn Ferry Tour right out of college.
In his first start at KFT, Castillo won the Wichita Open, becoming the latest young talent to find early success in the pro ranks.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about winning or anything like that,” Castillo said on this week’s episode of Subpar of GOLF. “I was just excited to play in the event. My first goal was just to make the cut.”
Castillo hit that target – thanks to a 62 in the second round – and then took it one step further. He shot two rounds of 66 in the weekend to make a triple playoff for his first pro title.
“Suddenly I was on the 18th hole and I looked at the leaderboard and saw I was tied [for the lead],” he said. “It ended up going into the playoffs and beating Kyle Jones and Adrian [Dumont De Chassart]. “
Castillo pared the extra hole, while his two opponents bogeyed, securing the title and earning a two-year exemption from KFT. He also has 500 points and is currently ranked 26th on the KFT points list.
“It’s crazy how things move so quickly,” he said. “it was amazing.”
You can listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Subpar below.