FORT MYERS, Fla. – It’s wasn’t until the 18th tee that Connor Arendell knew where he stood in the championship. After his drive found the center of the fairway, a friend told him he held a two-shot lead over Kevin Aylwin, Andrew Pope and the field.
A few minutes later Arendell tap in a short putt for par to be capture the 77th Florida Open Championship at The Golf Club at Crown Colony and to take home the $20,000 first-place check. Arendell posted a 1-over 72 on Sunday to capture the 77th Florida Open title and secured the two-shot victory with a 13-under 200 for the championship with rounds of 66-62-72.
"It's an honor to win this championship again," Arendell said. "Winning down here two years ago in Fort Myers gave me some extra confidence coming into the week.
This is the second Florida Open victory for Arendell, who won the 2021 Florida Open at Fiddlesticks Country Club. He becomes just the 11th player to win two Florida Open titles and the first player to win a second title since JC Deacon in 2020 at Pine Tree Golf Club.
After taking the 36-hole lead with a course-record 62 at Cypress Lake Golf Club, Arendell began the final round with a four-shot lead over the field. He started the day with a birdie on the third but ran in to some early trouble, with a double bogey on the fourth and added another bogey on the sixth.
"There a lot of chances out there if you hit the fairways, so I just knew if I could hit some fairways then I would have some looks and go from there," Arendell said. "I had that double early on, but settled in after that."
Arendell birdied back-to-back holes on the ninth and 10th, but his lead was cut to two shots with a bogey-free, 3-under front side for Aylwin. Arendell played steady overt the next eight holes, with his only other hiccup of the day coming with a bogey on the 15th. He secured the victory with a final-round 72 to take home the two-shot win.
This is the second FSGA championship win for Arendell, who is a Florida Junior Tour alum and winner. His second-round 62 at Cypress Lake set the course record and was the low round of the championship.
Aylwin and Pope both took home a share of second place, posting a 11-under 202 and taking home $9,625 each. Aylwin, who had an ace on the fourth hole at Cypress Lake on Saturday, used rounds of 66-68-68 to take a share of second place. Pope, the 2022 champion, made a run in the final round, carding a final-round 66 to move six spots up the leaderboard.
John Houchin earned low-amateur honors and finished the week in a tie for seventh place at 7-under 206, with rounds of 67-67-72. Derek Bard carded a final-round 65, the low round of the day, to move 40 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 13th at 4-under 209.
