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JUNO BEACH, FLORIDA | There is only so much to read into one golf shot, especially in a spirited match of hundreds. But if one shot could tell a story of something much larger, it came from Ricky Castillo on the ninth hole of his Sunday singles match in the Walker Cup.
Already 2 up against Great Britain & Ireland’s John Murphy, the slender University of Florida sophomore set up to go for the minuscule green in two with a hybrid in his hand. With a 15-mph wind blowing against him from the right, he launched a cut over the family of palm trees that players must carry 100 yards ahead of them.
It never left the flag, the kind of strike made for the shot tracer on TV. Castillo, professional in his reserved approach, muttered “go!” under his breath. It carried the long, arduous false front by mere steps and came to rest 6 feet from the hole. There was nowhere else it could have gone, securing a conceded eagle.
“That may have been the best shot I’ve ever seen in person,” a man in the gallery said.
In an imperfect week, it was one of the only perfect shots.
“I had 232 (yards) and the trees were a little bit in my way, and I just tried to hit a high cut hybrid and John (Murphy) hit it a little long and stuff, so I knew it was a tough shot,” Castillo said. “And I just wanted to get up on the green or somewhere just short and pulled it off perfectly.
“That was a good point in the match where I just knew I had control.”
Two years ago, before the 2019 Walker Cup, Castillo had earned a spot with his play but fell victim to being a junior player who many thought had been a beneficiary of an inflated boost in ranking. This time, there was zero doubt he would be on the American team. Castillo blitzed his college competition for two victories early on as a Gator, earning the Phil Mickelson Award for national freshman of the year and taking home first-team All-American honors. He rose to No. 1 in the world, a spot normally reserved for players late in their college careers.
But Castillo is different. His college coach, JC Deacon, said this of his star pupil:
“It sounds scary, but I can see him making a big jump and playing even better than he did last year. He’s the most competitive person I’ve ever been around. He has something in him that I’ve never seen before.”
(Castillo) plays the game with a touch of new school – a quiet, polished outlook and Charles Howell III-like swing – with a golf IQ that lives in the same area of a young Jordan Spieth.
At the 2021 Walker Cup, Castillo showed what Deacon has been privy to seeing on a daily basis back home in Gainesville, Florida. Castillo went 4-0, the only player of either side to do so, dominating both his singles matches and seamlessly partnering with two different players – emergency alternate Mac Meissner and William Mouw – in foursomes matches that each required gutsy efforts down to the 18th hole.
Experts called Pierceson Coody, Davis Thompson, John Pak and others the heart of the American side. They were among the sick and limited on a difficult Seminole course and Castillo was not, but his exceptional play confirmed the high ceiling that could be ahead of him. He plays the game with a touch of new school – a quiet, polished outlook and Charles Howell III-like swing – with a golf IQ that lives in the same area of a young Jordan Spieth. Putting is often the weakness of this generation of players, but Castillo is liable to pour putts in like few in the college game.
The U.S. side needed every bit of his performance to keep the Walker Cup. For those who saw it, they’ll also remember how Castillo did it.
As for having missed that 2019 team and the satisfaction of performing under the brightest of lights two years later, Castillo was diplomatic but with a sense of determination.
“It’s tough because I've always thought as the Walker Cup, you've got 16 to 20 really good players in the U.S. and only 10 are on the team, so it's … I was disappointed, but at the same time, everybody on that team in 2019 deserved to be on that team,” Castillo said.
“I just used it as motivation and got to be a part of this team, and really it's been an incredible experience for all of us. I wouldn't trade it for anything.”
Back in 2019, Castillo had a rough start to his freshman year as a Gator and sat down with Deacon at a coffee shop for a heart-to-heart conversation. Deacon asked Castillo if he wanted to be the best player in the world, to which Castillo said he would do anything to achieve it. The lengthy conversation that ensued focused around Castillo’s negative self-talk and poor body language, two variables that Deacon felt were preventing him from exposing his obvious gifts – the kind a player who qualifies for three U.S. Amateurs by the age of 17 possesses.
Castillo changed his mindset, and the results changed with him. With the sun setting on Seminole, his captain made it known that the golf world is only witnessing the beginning of his story.
“The underclassman is the hero,” Nathaniel Crosby said. “I watched him get to the semifinals of the Western twice and watched him play well at Pinehurst in the U.S. Amateur. I watched him beat Eric Bae in the quarterfinals. You were 63, he was 65. So the guy has got tremendous game.
“Nothing was unexpected this week.”
Top: Ricky Castillo went 4-0 to lead the United States side at Seminole Golf Club.
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