Register 2nd, Tar Heels 6th at Sea Best

Tuesday, February 6

Ponte Vedra, Fla. (TPC Sawgrass Valley)

All Day

North Carolina

Sea Best Invitational Day 2

Photo by: Todd Drexler

February 6, 2018 | Men's Golf

Sea Best Final

Senior from Burlington Runner-up in Playoff

By: Steve Kirschner

University of North Carolina senior William Register finished tied for second after a three-way playoff and the Tar Heels tied for sixth with a final round 10-over 290 at the Sea Best Invitational Tuesday.

Liberty's Ervin Chang parred the first playoff hole to defeat Register and Lipscomb's Eric Ansett. The runner-up finish was Register's best since he won the Liberty Spring Invitational in 2015.

Register (Burlington, N.C.) tied his career best with a 65 in Monday's opening round and shared the lead with Chang by one stroke after 36 holes. Register had four birdies and an eagle, but also had four bogeys and a double to shoot an even-par 70 today. Both Register and Ansett drove into a bunker on the playoff hole and ended up missing 10-footers for par.

"William was great yesterday and today," says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "We're are excited for him and proud of him. We know William is disappointed about the playoff, but he was tough down the stretch and executed some clutch shots, especially on 15, 16 and 17."

Only nine players shot under par over the final 18 holes. Register led UNC with a 70. Ben Griffin shot 3 over to finish tied for 16^th at 1-over 211. Jose Montaño finished tied for 37^th (216), Preyer Fountain tied for 53^rd (221) and Joshua Martin was 65^th (225).

Freshman Ryan Gerard, playing as an individual, finished 14^th after a 73 and shot 1-under 209 for the 54-hole event.

"We're proud of Ryan as well," says DiBitetto. "He had an opportunity this week and took advantage of it. We have a deep team, which will make things very competitive at home for our guys as they try to earn their way into the starting lineup."

South Florida shot a 1-over 281 on the final day to beat Arkansas by a stroke for the team title. The Razorbacks led by four strokes going into the final round, but shot 6 over today.

Carolina returns to action February 15-17 at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Kauai, Hawai'i.

"We saw both positives and some negatives this week," says DiBitetto. "We like coming here because it puts our players on a demanding golf course early in the semester. It's also a golf course where the wind usually blows, which it did this week. It forces players to be very sharp and it also helps us learn where improvement needs to happen."

The Sea Best Invitational was played at TPC at Sawgrass Dye's Valley Course.