After a dismal opening round Sunday put the Gators in 12th place at the Tavistock Collegiate, coach JC Deacon could have chalked the tournament up as a loss.
Which made it that much more impressive when No. 18 Florida came storming back to finish tied for fifth place at Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Florida, after two superb team performances on Monday and Tuesday.
UF had the lowest Round 2 score of any team Monday to push itself up four spots into eighth.
And on Tuesday, UF logged the second-lowest Round 3 score to cap off another improbable comeback.
Junior Ryan Orr had the best individual finish for the Gators, tying for 13th at 3-over despite starting off with a 4-over 76 in his opening round.
Sophomore Alejandro Tosti tied for 16th at 4-over for the tournament, highlighted by a 2-under 70 on Monday.
Freshman Jorge Garcia came into Tuesday tied for 36th, but after logging a 1-under 71 — UF’s lowest round of the day — he launched himself into a tie for 20th.
Deacon credited Garcia for finishing low despite a hectic round.
"He kind of had an up-and-down round day today, a lot of bogeys and stuff like that, but his attitude is awesome," Deacon said in a release.
"It’s everything we’re looking for in the guys. He hangs tough and made a couple of birdies coming in and really, really helped the team, so I’m happy for him. "
No. 19 Arizona State’s Jon Rahm took the individual title at 6-under, while his teammate Max Rottluff came in second at 4-under.
As a team, No. 1 Illinois won the tournament at 1-over and the Illini had three golfers finish in the top seven.
The Sun Devils came in second at 5-over, and California finished third after posting the fourth-worst score of the tournament, going 21-over in the third and final round.
UF was just one stroke short of Southeastern Conference rival No. 17 Vanderbilt, who took fourth place at 17-over.
The Gators’ strong final round placed them in a tie for fifth with No. 7 North Carolina at 18-over. The tie for fifth marks UF's second top-five finish during the Fall schedule this season.
While an 18-over fifth place finish sounds sufficient, the way in which the Gators arrived at that total tells another story.
UF went 15-over in the first round on Sunday and a combined 3-over in rounds two and three on Monday and Tuesday.
Strange as it seems, that narrative has become commonplace for the Gators.
In their previous tournament, the Jerry Pate National on Oct. 5, UF got off to a slow 7-over start before logging the competition’s best round two and round three scores to finish the tournament in second place.
While Deacon will undoubtedly emphasize the importance of a strong start before the team’s final tournament of the Fall next week, he’s satisfied to see progress where he can get it.
"We played really well again today, but a couple of shots slipped down the stretch that I think the guys would want to have back. Overall, we played really well and are moving in the right direction."
Follow Matt Brannon on Twitter @MattB_727
Ryan Orr swings during Day 1 of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 14, 2015, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
