EVANS, Ga. -- Coastal Carolina rallied from a nine-shot deficit Sunday afternoon to overtake North Carolina and capture the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

Sparked by the play of senior All-American Dustin Johnson, the 11th-ranked Chanticleers booked a four-under 284 while the No. 17 Tar Heels registered a six-over 294 and finished one shot back of Coastal Carolina.

Johnson fired his third consecutive four-under 68 and claimed medalist honors by six shots over North Carolina’s Reed Darsie, South Carolina’s George Bryan IV and Houston’s Jordan Irwin. UNC’s Martin Ureta and Georgia State’s Joel Sjoholm tied for fifth at five-under 211, seven shots off the pace.

A first-team All-America selection as a junior, Johnson posted a two-over 38 on the front nine, but caught fire on the Palmer course, booking a six-under 30 that included birdies on three of his last four holes to cruise to the individual title. As a team, CCU was -8 on its back nine after making the turn at +4.

Georgia State turned in a three-under 285 to take third place, while South Carolina finished fourth and Tennessee took fifth, despite playing with just a four-man lineup. East Tennessee State finished sixth at even-par 864 and recorded the best round of the day, a 10-under 278.

Host Augusta State tied for the biggest move of the day up the leaderboard, improving four spots into a tie for seventh. The Jags carded the second-best round of the day, a six-under 282. Senior Major Manning fashioned a three-under 69 and paced ASU with a tie for 12th at one-under 215. Fellow senior Wallace Booth and junior Keith Guest signed for a pair of two-under 70’s. Sophomore Tarik Can managed a one-over 73 and freshman Mitch Krywulycz had a two-over 74.

ASU returns to action in two weekends, traveling to Cary, N.C., to compete in the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate.

For full-field results of the Administaff ASU Invitational, visit www.golfstat.com. 

Notes

Coastal Carolina became the first squad to successfully defend its title since Augusta State in 2001 … Coastal’s Dustin Johnson, the individual runnerup in 2006 to USC Aiken’s Scott Brown, enjoyed his sixth straight sub-par round, his fifth straight round in the 60’s and his fourth straight four-under 68 at Champions Retreat dating back to last year … In six rounds at Champions, Johnson is a combined 21-under par ... Johnson led the 90-player field with 17 birdies … 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 even-par 72 and finished 84th in the 90-player field … After yielding three eagles during Friday’s first round, Champions Retreat was the scene of 11 eagles on Saturday and 13 more on Sunday – Johnson was one of five players with two eagles … Johnson also led the field in par 4 scoring at 3.87 (-4) … 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)
Tar Heels Extend Lead (second round)
 

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

Team Results
1.  Coastal Carolina              282-287-284=853 (-11)
2.  North Carolina                279-281-294=854 (-10)
3.  Georgia State                 290-281-285=856 (-8)
4.  South Carolina                289-287-285=861 (-3)
5.  Tennessee                     283-294-286=863 (-1)
6.  East Tennessee State          293-293-278=864 (E)
7.  AUGUSTA STATE                 297-290-282=869 (+5)
    North Florida                 291-293-285=869 (+5)
9.  Virginia Tech                 295-291-286=872 (+8)
10. Clemson                       295-294-285=874 (+10)
11. North Carolina State          295-290-290=875 (+11)
    Houston                       300-289-286=875 (+11)
13. Virginia                      298-296-283=877 (+13)
14. Auburn                        298-291-289=878 (+14)
15. USC Aiken                     293-293-295=881 (+17)
    Georgia Southern              303-288-290=881 (+17)
17. Notre Dame                    294-300-290=884 (+20)
18. Minnesota                     296-296-295=887 (+23) 

Augusta State Individual Results
t12. Major Manning                    72-74-69=215 (-1)
t31. Wallace Booth                    75-73-70=218 (+2)
t41. Mitch Krywulycz                  75-71-74=220 (+4)
t49. Tarik Can                        75-73-73=221 (+5)
t49. Keith Guest                      78-73-70=221 (+5) 

Top 20 Individual Results
1.  Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina                     68-68-68=204 (-12)
2.  Reed Darsie, North Carolina                          68-69-73=210 (-6)
    George Bryan IV, South Carolina                      66-72-72=210 (-6)
    Jordan Irwin, Houston                                72-66-72=210 (-6)
5.  Martin Ureta, North Carolina                         71-68-72=211 (-5)
    Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State                          76-68-67=211 (-5)
7.  Chris Paisley, Tennessee                             69-70-73=212 (-4)
8.  Jerry Richardson, North Carolina State               72-72-70=214 (-2)
    Roberto Diaz, USC Aiken                              73-72-69=214 (-2)
    Adam Gifford, Notre Dame                             71-74-69=214 (-2)
    Niall Turner, Notre Dame                             73-70-71=214 (-2)
12. Major Manning, Augusta State                         72-74-69=215 (-1)
    Dan Obremski, Coastal Carolina                       69-75-71=215 (-1)
    Robert Riesen, North Carolina                        68-72-75=215 (-1)
    Derek Oakey, Georgia State                           73-69-73=215 (-1)
    Tom Sherreard, Georgia State                         70-71-74=215 (-1)
    Florian Fritsch, South Carolina                      75-71-69=215 (-1)
    Gareth Shaw, East Tennessee State                    77-69-69=215 (-1)
    Jeff Dennis, North Florida                           73-71-71=215 (-1)
    Nick McDonald, Virginia Tech                         74-72-69=215 (-1)
    Ben Martin, Clemson                                  74-73-68=215 (-1)
    Kyle Stanley, Clemson                                71-70-74=215 (-1)