OCALA, Fla. – Cristian DiMarco was on fire from the moment he stepped onto the tee this morning. His stellar performance earned him the prestigious title of the 78th Florida Open Champion. DiMarco fired off rounds of 69-67-64 to reach a staggering 16-under par.
Few starts are as electrifying as Cristian's, who birdied the first three holes right off that bat to snatch an early lead. Daniel Robinson and yesterday's frontrunner, Brad Schneider, navigated smoothly between 8-under and 10-under on their front nine. Schneider stumbled with a double bogey on the eighth, and Robinson faced a similar setback on the ninth hole.
As the final stretch approached, DiMarco surged ahead, widening his lead. Despite Robinson's attempts to challenge with birdies on holes
11, 13, 16, and 17, DiMarco maintained his focus, consistently adding to his birdie count. By the end of the day, DiMarco had birdied half of the course, totaling nine birdies, with five coming on the back nine. Demonstrating true championship form, DiMarco sealed his victory with a birdie on the last hole.
DiMarco had a good feeling going into his final round, “I love these two golf courses, and I kind of just felt like I was playing good coming in and I felt like I had a chance from the start of the week and that if I just stuck to my game plan I would have a chance.”
When asked if he thought his three consecutive birdies on the first three holes helped boost his confidence going into the rest of the round, he remarked “For sure, it’s always nice to get a good start. I’ve played a lot of golf with Daniel Robinson and Brad Schnieder, I know them pretty well and know they’re really good players, so I figured I had to get out and run and try to hide.” DiMarco navigated finding hiding spots from his competitors well as he walked away with the status of champion and a $20,000 check.
John Somers, Pierre Viallaneix, and Luke Gifford, all finished in a three-way tie for third, with a total of 9-under par.
James Hassell, who finished in a four-way tie for sixth was named our low amateur after firing off rounds of 72-69-67 (208). In his final round, Hassell captured seven birdies to declare himself as this year’s low amateur.
