DAYTON, Ohio – The toughest test in amateur golf just saw its most grueling edition.

After both won a 19-hole match in the semifinals on Saturday morning, Florida teammates Ian Gilligan and Jack Turner battled across 29 holes in the afternoon to determine a champion at Moraine Country Club. The 13-hour day ended with Gilligan hoisting the George R. Thorne trophy on the 11th playoff hole of the longest match in Western Amateur history.

"After hours and hours of a grind of a match, I couldn't be happier to have pulled it out in the end," Gilligan said. "It was a battle of energy levels and so hard to stay focused all day, but it ended up being an unbelievable day. I can't even put it into words."

Gilligan – a senior from Reno, Nevada – rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on the 29th hole to seal the match, pumped his arms in the air and joined in a shared sigh of relief with the crowd that followed the nearly 7-hour match.

"Definitely the craziest match I've ever been a part of or heard of," Gilligan said. "I think I owe an apology to the everyone for making it so long."

The match began with Gilligan and Turner, a sophomore, trading birdies, halving just one of the first nine holes. Gilligan took a 2-up lead into No. 17, needing to tie one of the final two holes to secure the win.

Instead, Turner fought back to win No. 17 and capitalized on a Gilligan missed putt on No. 18 to even up the match and force a playoff.

The Gator teammates went shot-for-shot for the next 10 holes, topping the record for longest match set by Mitch Mooney and Scott Hoch's 26-hole match in the 1979 Western Amateur Round of 16. The longest Western Amateur final – a 22-hole affair featuring Norman Xiong and Doc Redman in 2017 – was beat more than an hour before Gilligan was crowned champion.

"Jack and I were talking about it on our ninth playoff hole and decided we were ready for it to be over," Gilligan said with a laugh. "But I just kept telling myself you're playing for a tournament of the biggest magnitude and need to keep going."

After playing 154 holes in just five days, Gilligan's name is now etched on the George R. Thorne trophy alongside the likes of Western Amateur champions Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus. He's the first Gator to win since Bubba Dickerson in 2001 and joins a lengthy list of Florida winners that includes major champions Andy North and Tommy Aaron.

The victory further cements Gilligan's status as one of the world's top amateurs. Currently No. 14 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Gilligan will enter his senior season at No. 8 in the PGA TOUR University Preseason Rankings. He's also earned an exemption into the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank on the Korn Ferry Tour.

In a summer that already featured Florida freshman Parker Sands winning the Western Junior at Ruth Lake Country Club in June, the Gators continued to show their teeth by securing three of the four semifinal spots at Moraine.

Gilligan defeated his teammate, Florida junior Parker Bell, with a birdie on the 19th hole. Turner won three consecutive holes on Nos. 15-17 in his semifinal match, eventually defeating 16-year-old Henry Guan in 19 holes.

"I didn't want to play Parker or Jack because they're both such good players and my friends," Gilligan said. "It's special to share this with my teammates and I think this is something we'll carry with us for a long time."

It had been exactly 50 years since college teammates squared off in the Western Amateur final, when Wake Forest's Curtis Strange took down Jay Haas in 20 holes at Point O' Woods Golf and Country Club in 1974. The Demon Deacon duo helped lead Wake Forest to a second consecutive NCAA title that spring in 1975.

"We're only going to keep getting better," Gilligan said. "I think by the time we get to the national championships next year we'll be the team to beat."

Jackson Koivun – who claimed stroke play medalist honors this week at 15-under par – and the reigning national champion Auburn Tigers will provide a formidable test.

First played at Glen View Club in 1899, the Western Amateur is the world’s third-oldest amateur championship, behind only the British Amateur (1885) and the U.S. Amateur (1895). It regularly attracts the top players from across the country and around the world.

A grueling combination of stroke play and match play makes the Western Amateur one of the most demanding events in golf. The field of 156 players competed in 72 holes of stroke play over three days to determine the Sweet 16 for match play.

Round of 16 Results
Friday, August 2
Parker Bell, Tallahassee, Fla., def. Jackson Koivun, Chapel Hill, N.C., 3 and 2
Mikkel Mathiesen, Denmark, def. Gregory Solhaug, Norway, 3 and 2
Ian Gilligan, Reno, Nev., def. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn., 2 and 1
Benjamin James, Milford, Conn., def. Zachery Pollo, Rocklin, Calif., 5 and 4
Tyson Shelley, Holladay, Utah, def. Max Herendeen, Bellevue, Wash., 5 and 4
Jack Turner, Orlando, Fla., def. Jake Peacock, Milton, Ga., 2 and 1
Henry Guan, Irving, Tex., def. Mahanth Chirravuri, Chandler, Ariz., 2 and 1
William Sides, Tulsa, Okla., def. Jackson Herrington, Dickson, Tenn. 1 up 

Quarterfinal Results
Friday, August 2
Bell def. Mathiesen, 3 and 2
Gilligan def. James, 2 and 1
Turner def. Shelley, 5 and 4
Guan def. Sides, 3 and 2

Semifinal Results
Saturday, August 3
Gilligan def. Bell, 19 holes
Turner def. Guan, 19 holes

Championship Final
Saturday, August 3
Gilligan def. Turner, 29 holes