University of Florida golf coach J.C. Deacon made his first bogey of the week in the 74th Florida Open at the par-5 fifth hole at the Pine Tree Club in Boynton Beach on Sunday, then fell into a tie for the lead on the next hole with veteran mini-tour player Kenny Goodykoontz of Fort Myers.
Deacon bounced back in a hurry, with three birdies during a four-hole stretch. He went onto post a 69, completing a wire-to-wire victory for his second Florida Open title in four years with a four-shot victory at 12-under-par 202.
Deacon pulled away from the tie with Goodykoontz (71) with birdies at Nos. 9, 10 and 12, combined with two late bogeys by Goodykoontz, who dropped into a second-place tie with Dillon Board (67) of Jacksonville and former University of Florida player Ryan Orr (67).
“It means a lot,” Deacon told the Florida State Golf Association. “I’ve had three or four months to really prepare for this. I wanted to be a good model for my guys. I worked my butt off to be ready for this tournament. The first two days were really, really solid and I think I was a good example for those boys.”
Deacon went 40 holes without a bogey until slipping up at No. 5. He made only one other bogey, at No. 17, but he led by four on the 17th tee and made up for it with a birdie at the closing hole.
Deacon won the Florida Open in 2017 at Black Diamond.
“The birdie on 12 made me feel really comfortable and confident,” Deacon told fsga.org. “It was by no means done at that point, but it gave me a little bit of breathing room with the field.”
Deacon, a native of Toronto, was the only player in the field to shoot three rounds in the 60s. He is the 10th player to capture two Florida Open victories.
Board, who graduated from rural Baldwin High School on the outskirts of Jacksonville and played college golf at Coastal Carolina, birdied five of 10 holes, beginning with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 8 and 9, to claim his share of second place. Orr, who played for Deacon for three years at UF, did not make a bogey in the final round and had only one in his last 36 holes.
Alfredo Adrian of Venezuela, a Doral resident who plays on PGA Tour Latinoamerica, bogeyed the first hole, then rattled off five birdies in six holes and finished with the day’s low round of 65 to claim fifth place alone at 6-under. He jumped 19 spots on the leaderboard.
Former Jacksonville University player Raul Pereda (70), Mike Andre (71) of Ft. Myers and Michael Kartrude (74) of Jupiter were 4-under to tie for sixth.
Devon Hopkins of Jacksonville Beach began the day in a tie for third, three shots behind Deacon, but signed for a 75 and dropped into a tie for ninth at 3-under. Hopkins claimed low amateur for the tournament by one shot over Yunhe Zheng (72) of Orlando and Brendan Collins (70) of Tallahassee.
Defending champion Sean Dale (72) of Jacksonville, who shot 63 in the final round last year to win at Hammock Beach in Palm coast, tied for 12th at 2-under.
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