Senior David Ford shot a 10-under 206 to help the UNC men’s golf team overcome a third-round deficit and win the Williams Cup in Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament is named for former UNC men’s basketball head coach Roy Williams.

Ford also took the individual title by a stroke over Arizona State’s Connor Williams. For Ford, it’s his second straight win at the Williams Cup and his fourth consecutive top-two finish. The former ACC Player of the Year trailed by a stroke on the 16th hole in the final round, but sunk a 23-foot birdie putt to take the lead. The win is Ford’s second this fall and fourth in his UNC career.

Ford’s twin brother Maxwell tied for fifth place, with Hampton Roberts and Ethan Paschal tying for 14th. All four shot 70 or better in the final round.

The margins were just as thin on the team leaderboard, as the Tar Heels trailed the Sun Devils by two strokes at the beginning of the third round and by as many as seven strokes midway through the round. Carolina shot 11-under par as a team in the final nine holes of the round after shooting even par through the first nine, leapfrogging Arizona State to take the title. Auburn, Florida and NC State rounded out the top five.

The team title is Carolina’s first this season and 23rd in the eight seasons under head coach Andrew DiBitetto. The Tar Heels have won at least one team title in every season of his tenure.

The tournament was UNC’s final event of the fall season. Carolina will break until February 6, when it returns to action in Hawai’i at the Amer Ari Invitational.

 

Featured image via Andy Mead/YCJ


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