Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Comm
Louisiana Tech’s Niilo Maki-Petaja continued his strong play in round three on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, shooting 70 (E) to finish in a tie for fourth among the 84-player field at the Sea Best Invitational.
It was a jam-packed leaderboard for much of the final round as 4th through 10th was separated by half a dozen strokes throughout the morning, a portion that included LA Tech.
The Bulldogs had a chance to move up from their 8th-place position coming into round three, but a tough finish on the final three holes dropped them back to ninth shooting 297-288-288=873 (+33).
Maki-Petaja was steady with three birdies, three bogeys, and 12 pars to make it three straight rounds at or under par for the freshman in recording his first career top-5 finish.
Will Patrick and Lake Juban each registered their best round of the tournament, shooting 72 (+2) apiece to finish tied for 48th and 55th, respectively.
Hunter Battles was the fourth scorecard used in the third round. The senior was flirting with a top-20 finish, but a triple-bogey on the last hole dropped him into a tie for 33rd as an individual shooting 74 (+4).
No. 26 Florida took home the title, followed by North Florida and Louisville who both rank in the top 50 in the country.
