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Florida Gator golfer Fred Biondi shot a final round 67 to come back from five shots and win the individual NCAA championship.
Fred Biondi had himself a day during the final stroke-play round of the NCAA Men’s Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.. He shot a 3-under 67 to erase a five-shot deficit to claim the individual title.
His six birdies and a par on the 18th sealed the deal for the senior. He beat out Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman to become the Gators’ first individual title winner since 2001 when Nick Gilliam won and the third in school history, per a Florida Gator press release. He is the first international player since Thomas Pieters to win the individual trophy.
The Sau Paulo, Brazil, native went 2-under 35 on the front nine and, after a bogey on 12, was three back of Steelman. Biondi birdied the 14th to get that stroke back and closed out his round with four pars.
Steelman held the lead throughout the first three days of stroke play, but Biondi took control on Day 4 and finished strong enough to take the win away from the Yellow Jacket. He finished T2 with Illinois’ Jackson Buchanan at 6-under.
This win gave him his fourth collegiate title and third of the season. Biondi also won the 2023 Arnold Palmer Champion Award.
Congrats to @FredBiondi on winning the National Championship Individual Title! The kid is really good. Works really hard at the game and loves to learn. Can’t happen to a better person! So happy for him. 3rd @GatorsGolf player to win and individual title.
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) May 30, 2023
He finished No. 2 on the PGA Tour University rankings this season behind Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, giving him fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour status for 2023 and a final-round exemption into the PGA Tour Q-School. However, he will have to make that decision because if he chooses to retain his amateur status, he will be exempted into the 2024 Masters and 2023 U.S. Open.
Florida’s Fred Biondi, today’s NCAA individual champ who now has KFT card for next 1.5 seasons, suddenly must decide if he’ll turn pro or remain amateur to accept 2024 Masters invite.
“It’s definitely a tough choice … that’s something I’ll figure out once this week is done.”
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) May 30, 2023
Biondi now has a decision to make — will he turn professional or wait and play as an amateur in two of the four major championships?
The Gators finished T2 in stroke play and will be the No. 2 seed in the match play portion to decide who will win the team championship.
