NAPLES, Fla. —The Florida heat was relentless, but nothing was hotter than Deacon's game. Emerging from 54 holes of golf and one playoff hole, it was J C Deacon from the University of Florida who claimed his third Florida Open title, cementing his place among the greats of Florida golf.
Overnight leader Brad Schneider came out firing, sticking approach after approach and rolling in three birdies over his first four holes to reach 16-under. Brant Peaper made an early statement of his own, reeling off five straight birdies from holes one through five. After four consecutive pars to end his front nine, Peaper opened his back nine with birdies on 10 and 12 to get within two shots of the lead. However, he couldn't keep the momentum going and was unable to make a birdie over his next five holes, putting himself out of contention.
Two-time Florida Open champion J C Deacon got off to a hot start, making eagle on the opening hole to briefly share the lead. After six straight pars, an unlucky break on the 8th hole led to a double bogey. Still, Deacon continued to grind, making birdie on three of his next five holes and vaulting himself right back into contention. He hit his best shot of the day on the drivable 15th hole, driving the green to 20 feet and calmly two-putting for birdie. After making a clutch up-and-down on the 17th hole, Deacon hit a phenomenal wedge into the 18th, sticking it to three feet and draining the birdie putt to take the clubhouse lead.
Joseph Pagdin kept the pressure on with a pinpoint approach to two feet on the fifth hole, moving him into solo second at 14-under. As the round progressed, Pagdin stayed steady and started climbing the leaderboard. But Schneider wasn’t ready to give up just yet. The two made the turn in a neck-and-neck race, with Schneider at 16-under and Pagdin at 15-under. Both birdied the 10th, maintaining the one-stroke difference, but the 11th hole changed everything. Schneider flared his tee shot right and found the sand, resulting in a bogey, while Pagdin had a three-foot birdie putt—and made it.
On the 14th hole, Schneider hit his shot into a penalty area and made another bogey. Pagdin stumbled on the 15th, finding the water and making bogey himself. However, he quickly bounced back on the 16th with a beautiful birdie on the par-3. Schneider made costly bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, taking him out of contention. Pagdin found himself out of position on the 18th, needing par to force a playoff with Deacon. Once again, Pagdin came through in the clutch, hitting a chip to seven feet and draining the putt to send the two to a playoff—the University of Florida head coach versus a former UF player.
In the playoff, both players hit irons off the tee, with Deacon’s shot finding the fairway and Pagdin’s finding the left penalty area. Knowing he had the advantage, Deacon calmly laid up, then hit his approach to 17 feet and rolled in the birdie putt, securing the victory.
With the win, Deacon became the first three-time Florida Open champion since Don Bisplinghoff in 1962.
Low Amateur honors this week belonged to Tequesta CC's Tristan Wieland, who finished with a total score of 206 (-10).
