The University of Florida Men’s Golf Team overcame a 12-stroke deficit on the final day of the Inverness Invitational to capture its first win of the season. Senior Matt Every (Daytona Beach, Fla.) posted a third-round score of 68 to earn his fourth tournament title.

The Gators shot 287 as a team during the final round, which was 13-strokes better than the nearest competitor in the 15-field tournament.  The University of Southern California held lead through the first two rounds on Monday, but followed-up with a 302 to fall behind Florida.

“This was sort of an unexpected win for us,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “We talked about not being out of it last night, but we needed an exceptional round.”

Every came through by earning the Gators’ second individual medal at the Inverness Invitational with a total score of 74-71-68 = 213 to finished even on the par-71, 7,255-yard course. Every’s most recent first-place finish was at the Mercedes Benz Collegiate on February 22, 2005.

“It’s a great way to start the season,” Alexander said. “His round today was pretty incredible. The conditions were tough, it was a little breezy.  Consequently, shooting over-par was not that bad.”

Former Gator Camilo Villegas also took home the individual title during Florida’s first visit to the Inverness Invitational in 2002. His younger brother and current Gator Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia), had a strong performance with scores of 75-76-76 = 227 (+14) to finish tied for 34th-place.

Freshman Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) notched his first top-10 finish by firing a 75-72-74 = 221 (+8). Senior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn) carded scores of 74-76-72 = 222 (+9) to earn his13th career top-15 finish. Senior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) rounded the Gator lineup by improving six strokes on his opening round score to finish Wednesday with a 73. 

Florida has now won three of its last four season-opening tournaments. The Gators’ last opening tournament victory was at the 2003 Bank of Tennessee Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Gators return to action on Monday at the Shoal Creek Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. Results, season statistics and pre-match notes can be found at www.gatorzone.com.

-UF-

Inverness Invitational

Toledo, Ohio

Inverness C.C. (par 71, 7,255 yards)

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Team Results

1. Florida                     298-295-287 = 880 +28

2. Southern California 289-292-302 = 883 +31

3. Texas                      305-286-297 = 888 +36

4. Kent State               296-303-293 = 892 +40

5. Coastal Carolina     300-292-301 = 893 +41

6. Kentucky                 298-302-296 = 896 +44

7. Toledo                     293-302-304 = 899 +47

    Illinois                      306-293-300 = 899 +47

9. Ohio State               302-297-302 = 901 +49

10. Nebraska               300-303-307 = 910 +58

11. TCU                       302-302-307 = 911 +59

     Michigan State       300-308-303 = 911 +59

13. UCF                       307-303-302 = 912 +60

14. Vanderbilt              298-304-314 = 916 +64

15. Navy                      333-311-322 = 966 +114

Top 10 Individual Results

1. Matt Every, Florida                       74-71-68 = 213  E

2. Joshua Wooding, USC                   71-70-74 = 215 +2

3. Taylor Wood, USC                          69-73-74 = 216 +3

4. Kevin Schultz, Texas                      75-69-73 = 217 +4

5. Matt Harmon, Mich. State               72-74-72 = 218 +5

    Matthew Mills, Texas                       75-70-73 = 218 +5

7. Kyle Hosick, Illinois                         75-71-73 = 219 +6

    Andy Winings, Kentucky                 75-71-73 = 219 +6

9. Ryan Yip, Kent State                       73-77-70 = 220 +7

10. Moises Cobo, Coastal Carolina    71-73-77 = 221 +8

       Jack Tyler, Ohio State                 77-69-75 = 221 +8

       Jon Curran, Vanderbilt                 72-72-77 = 221 +8

       Billy Horschel, Florida              75-72-74 = 221 +8

Florida Results

1.     Matt Every                       74-71-68 = 213   E

T10. Billy Horschel                  75-72-74 = 221 +8

T14. Brett Stegmaier              74-76-72 = 222 +9

T34. Manuel Villegas               75-76-76 = 227 +14

T45. James Vargas                79-78-73 = 230 +17