EVANS, Ga. -- North Carolina posted a seven-under 281 Saturday afternoon and stretched its lead to nine shots through two rounds of the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

The 17th-ranked Tar Heels, who began the day with a three-stroke lead over No. 11 Coastal Carolina, tripled its advantage over the Chanticleers behind a four-under 68 from senior All-American Martin Ureta and a three-under 69 from Reed Darsie. Georgia State matched UNC for the best round of the day and improved from fifth to third. South Carolina and Tennessee round out the top five at even-par 576 and one-over 577.

“The two eagles on the last hole today were kind of nice,” said North Carolina head coach John Inman, who captured Administaff ASU Invitational medalist honors twice during his collegiate career at UNC. “I was talking to my assistant coach that we haven’t really had a breakout round this year, and then we get here and have two low rounds in a row. We’ve played this same lineup a lot this year and been in this position before. To keep getting in this position is what you want.”

Coastal’s Dustin Johnson fired a second straight four-under 68 to take a one-shot lead over UNC’s Darsie. Houston’s Jordan Irwin and South Carolina’s George Bryan IV are tied for third at six-under 138. Irwin matched Bryan’s course record of six-under 66 he set on Friday in Saturday’s afternoon wave. UNC’s Ureta and Tennessee’s Chris Paisley are tied for fifth at five-under 139.

“This course makes you hit a lot of different golf shots, and I think that’s what I like the most,” Johnson said. “You have to move it both ways and that’s a lot of fun to me. I didn’t get off to that good a start but I started swinging it better on the back nine. I think the birdie at No. 2 was the key to my round. That seemed to get me going. I’ve been in this position before and I’ll just stick to my game plan and see what happens. It should be a lot of fun.”

Host Augusta State moved up from 14th to 11th place after posting a two-over 290 for a two-round total of 587 (+11). Freshman Mitch Krywulycz booked the Jags’ lone sub-par round, turning in a one-under 71, his best round as a collegian. Senior Major Manning is tied for 30th with Krywulycz after managing a two-over 74. Senior Wallace Booth and sophomore Tarik Can are tied for 44th after each tallied a one-over 73. Junior Keith Guest had a one-over 73 and is tied for 68th.

The third and final round tees off Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. off both the Bluff/Nicklaus and Island/Palmer nines. Virginia Tech, USC Aiken and N.C. State are first off the Bluff nine at 8:00 a.m., followed by North Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina at 8:45 a.m. while the top three teams – UNC, Coastal Carolina and Georgia State -- take to the course at 9:30 a.m.

Augusta State, Auburn and East Tennessee State are slated for an 8:00 a.m. start off the Island nine, with Georgia Southern, Houston and Clemson to follow at 8:45 a.m. Notre Dame, Virginia and Minnesota are slotted for 9:30 a.m.

For full-field results and live scoring of Sunday’s third and final round, visit www.golfstat.com.

Admission is free and the tourney is open to the public.

Notes

Coastal Carolina is bidding to become the first back-to-back team champions since Augusta State won in 2000 and 2001 … Coastal’s Dustin Johnson was the runnerup individually in 2006 to USC Aiken’s Scott Brown … Johnson has registered five straight sub-par rounds, four straight rounds in the 60’s and three straight four-under 68’s at Champions Retreat dating back to last year … In five rounds at Champions, Johnson is a combined 17-under par ... Just 10 shots separate the teams in sixth through 18th place … Tennessee junior Jonathan Mount had to withdraw from the tourney after re-aggravating a knee injury while walking from the Champions Retreat practice facility to the putting green prior to his second-round tee time … The injury forced the Volunteers to play with just four players, meaning they could not throw out their worst score … Mount was a shot off the lead after opening with a five-under 67 Friday … North Carolina’s Reed Darsie and Barden Berry made back-to-back eagles to close out their rounds on the 579-yard, par-5 ninth hole … Clemson freshman Sam Saunders, the grandson of four-time Masters champion and Administaff spokesman Arnold Palmer, posted an 80 and is tied for 87th in the 90-player field … Six of the top 10 teams on the leaderboard are ranked among the top 43 in the nation in Golfstat.com’s latest rankings, including USC Aiken, the three-time defending national champion and No. 6-ranked team in Division II … After yielding three eagles during Friday’s first round, Champions Retreat was the scene of 11 eagles on Saturday … North Carolina State’s Garry Hill tallied the first ace in the tournament’s two years at Champions Retreat Saturday morning when he made a hole-in-one on the Island nine’s par-3, 192-yard eighth hole.

Related Stories/Links:

Field Strong For Administaff ASU Invitational (preview)
Tar Heels Move Out In Front (first round)
Second Round Team Scores
Second Round Individual Scores
Second Round Team w/Player Results
Second Round Course Stats
Third Round Tee Times

Administaff Augusta State Invitational
Champions Retreat Golf Club
Evans, Ga.
Par 72 – 7,301 yards
March 30-April 1, 2007 

Team Results

1.  North Carolina                    279-281=560 (-16)
2.  Coastal Carolina                  282-287=569 (-7)
3.  Georgia State                     290-281=571 (-5)
4.  South Carolina                    289-287=576 (E)
5.  Tennessee                         283-294=577 (+1)
6.  North Florida                     291-293=584 (+8)
7.  North Carolina State              295-290=585 (+9)
8.  USC Aiken                         293-293=586 (+10)
    Virginia Tech                     295-291=586 (+10)
    East Tennessee State              293-293=586 (+10)
11. AUGUSTA STATE                     297-290=587 (+11)
12. Auburn                            298-291=589 (+13)
    Clemson                           295-294=589 (+13)
    Houston                           300-289=589 (+13)
15. Georgia Southern                  303-288=591 (+15)
16. Minnesota                         296-296=592 (+16)
17. Virginia                          298-296=594 (+18)
    Notre Dame                        294-300=594 (+18) 

Augusta State Individual Results

t30. Mitch Krywulycz                  75-71=146 (+2)
t30. Major Manning                    72-74=146 (+2)
t44. Tarik Can                        75-73=148 (+4)
t44. Wallace Booth                    75-73=148 (+4)
t68. Keith Guest                      78-73=151 (+7) 

Top 20 Individual Results

1.  Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina                68-68=136 (-8)
2.  Reed Darsie, North Carolina                     68-69=137 (-7)
3.  George Bryan IV, South Carolina                 66-72=138 (-6)
    Jordan Irwin, Houston                           72-66=138 (-6)
5.  Martin Ureta, North Carolina                    71-68=139 (-5)
    Chris Paisley, Tennessee                        69-70=139 (-5)
7.  Robert Riesen, North Carolina                   68-72=140 (-4)
8.  Tom Sherreard, Georgia State                    70-71=141 (-3)
    Kyle Stanley, Clemson                           71-70=141 (-3)
10. Derek Oakey, Georgia State                      73-69=142 (-2)
    Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina                     69-73=142 (-2)
12. Niall Turner, Minnesota                         73-70=143 (-1)
13. Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State                     76-68=144 (E)
    Jeff Dennis, North Florida                      73-71=144 (E)
    Barden Berry, North Carolina                    72-72=144 (E)
    Dan Obremski, Coastal Carolina                  69-75=144 (E)
    Jerry Richardson, North Carolina State          72-72=144 (E)
    Drew Weaver, Virginia Tech                      72-72=144 (E)
    Victor Almstrom, Minnesota                      71-73=144 (E)
20. Cole Isban, Notre Dame                          73-72=145 (+1)
    Roberto Diaz, USC Aiken                         73-72=145 (+1)
    Adam Gifford, Notre Dame                        71-74=145 (+1)
    Seamus Power, East Tennessee State              72-73=145 (+1)
    Warren Thomas, South Carolina                   74-71=145 (+1)
    Michael O’Neal, North Florida                   72-73=145 (+1)
    JC Horne, North Florida                         70-75=145 (+1)
    Jurrian van der Vaart, Virginia Tech            75-70=145 (+1)
    Nathan Spoon, North Carolina State              72-73=145 (+1)
    Chris Smith, Georgia Southern                   74-71=145 (+1)