Ricky Castillo settled in the life of the PGA Tour during his recruit season, after having become one of the 30 players of Korn Ferry Tour to win a card via his list of 2024 points.
Along the way, the Castillo Caddies had included his father, Mark and Cory Shumate, who was alongside Castillo when he became the youngest winner of the Korn Ferry 2023 season with the title of Wichita Open.
However, when his first season of PGA Tour progressed, a very familiar face helped his shopping cart, his brother Derek – and it is not the first time that they have been working together.
In 2018 at the US Junior Amateur in Baltusrol, the pair joined forces, with Ricky explaining what Derek brings to this role, saying: “It is a huge help. He knows exactly how I like to play the game and each distance and what I am good.
“We play one with each other all the time, so we know exactly how are the games of each other, so it is really useful to have someone like that on the bag.”
As Ricky hinted at the time, Derek is also an accomplished player. Derek, who was born in 1998, attended California State University, Fullerton, where he managed to succeed in the Titans golf team. This included being named Big West Men’s Golfer of the month for March 2020 in his last year.
After having become a professional, he appeared on the PGA Tour Canada and the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, with a better result of T41 to 2022 Diners Club Peru on this last circuit.
Derek, who also caddie on the LPGA tour, may not have been able to imitate his brother by taking the necessary measures to reach the PGA Tour. However, his role alongside Ricky made it still have a role to play on it.
