Ricky Castillo accomplished a feat many childhood golfers dream of on Sunday.
However, it took the 24-year-old a bit to get there.
The 2023 UF graduate was cut in the 2024 Valspar Championship, which was his only PGA tournament that year. In the 2025 season, he was cut from 16 of 28 tournaments with one third-place finish at The RSM Classic.
This season, the Yorba Linda, California, native finished between 31st and 43rd in his first three tournaments. On Feb. 26, he knocked on the door of glory as he finished in fifth place at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Then, the Puerto Rico Open came along.
In the final round of play, Castillo took a one-stroke lead in Hole 6 with an eagle. He also managed to not have a bogey on 52 straight holes up to the finish line. The timely plays and lack of mistakes led him to his first PGA Tour victory.
Ultimately, he finished with a 271 (-17), just one stroke ahead of Gainesville native Chandler Blanchet. The University of West Florida graduate’s five birdies in Round 4 were not enough to pass Castillo, who is no stranger to victory.
At UF, he won four individual tournaments, including twice at the Gators Invitational. He also posted the lowest scoring average on the team his freshman and sophomore years.
In 2023, he went undefeated in both the SEC and NCAA championships to propel the Gators to their fifth national title.
Due to Castillo’s PGA victory, he will participate in The Players Championship from Thursday to Sunday and the PGA Championship from May 14 to 17.
The UF alum will head to Palm Valley, Florida, on Thursday to partake in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Contact Colby Kistner at ckistner@alligator.org. Follow him on X @colbykistner22.
Colby is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports. He also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. He is an avid hockey fan with his teams being the Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers. He is looking to minor in business administration.
