STILLWATER, Okla. — The 16th-ranked LSU men’s golf team was locked in a fight for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships throughout Saturday’s final round of the NCAA South Central Regional, but the Tigers saw their season come to an end with a sixth-place finish after posting a 54-hole score of 53-over par 917.
LSU fell just three strokes short of a playoff for the last qualifying spot as Northwestern and TCU finished the three-day event in a tie for fourth place at 50-over 914 at Karsten Creek Golf Club.
The top five teams in the final standings at the NCAA South Central Regional earned the right to compete as part of the 30-team field at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships slated to run from May 26-30 at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
Tournament host and No. 1 seed Oklahoma State ran away with the team championship this week as the Cowboys fired a 54-hole team score of 17-over 881. The No. 2 seed Arkansas Razorbacks finished 22 shots back in a distant second place at 39-over 903, while Chattanooga secured a third qualifying spot in the NCAA Championships with a score of 43-over 907.
“It was a very tough day for the guys,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It’s tough to have two guys finish in the Top 10 of the leaderboard and not get it done this weekend. With that being said, I’m very proud of the progress our team made this season. I look forward to these guys back next fall and working toward continued improvement for our program.”
Sophomore John Peterson led the way for the Tigers once again this week with his fourth-straight third-place finish as he continues to show why he is deserving of All-America honors.
Peterson, who has already been named a First-Team All-SEC performer this spring, was nearly an NCAA Championships qualifier as an individual as he tied Baylor’s Cody Paladino for third place on the leaderboard with a 54-hole score of 5-over 221 in three days of blustery conditions at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Peterson posted a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s final round.
With the top individual not among the top-five teams of the final standings earning the right to be in the field at the NCAA Championships, the duo battled in a sudden-death playoff with Paladino defeating Peterson on the second playoff hole at the par-four 10th.
Peterson, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, picked up his team-leading sixth Top 10 finish this week as he also finished the season as the team leader with a 72.4 scoring average in 11 starts.
“I’m very proud of John in the way he has performed all year long,” Winstead said. “He certainly had one of the best semesters of golf in Baton Rouge in recent memory. I’m proud of his play and equally proud of what accomplished this semester in the classroom with a 3.4 GPA. That alone is a testament to what kind of student-athlete John has become.”
Peterson was joined in the Top 10 of the final leaderboard by fellow sophomore Andrew Loupe, who carded 5-over 77 in the final round to tie for ninth place with a three-day total of 7-over 223.
Loupe, who also posted scored of even-par 72 in the first round and 2-over 74 in the second at the NCAA South Central Regional, earned his third Top 10 finish of the season. Sophomore Clayton Rotz finished in a tie for 37th at 18-over 234, while freshmen Sang Yi and Josh Jones finished in a tie for 54th place and a tie for 73rd place, respectively.
NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. Oklahoma State 296-289-296 ? 881 +17; 2. Arkansas 298-301-304 ? 903 +39; 3. Chattanooga 298-300-309 ? 907 +43; T4. TCU 299-310-305 ? 914 +50; T4. Northwestern 302-302-310 ? 914 +50; 6. LSU 298-307-312 ? 917 +53; 7. Baylor 301-309-310 ? 920 +56; 8. Wichita State 306-302-317 ? 925 +61; T9. Denver 312-309-315 ? 936 +72; T9. Tulsa 299-320-317 ? 936 +72; 11. Michigan State 306-319-312 ? 937 +73; 12. Pepperdine 302-316-323 ? 941 +77; 13. Oral Roberts 319-325-325 ? 969 +105.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State, 74-72-70 ? 216 E; 2. Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State, 72-70-75 ? 217 +1; T3. John Peterson, LSU, 70-76-75 ? 221 +5; T3. Cody Paladino, Baylor, 74-73-74 ? 221 +5; T5. Connor McHenry, Wichita State, 73-69-80 ? 222 +6; T5. David Lingmerth, Arkansas, 74-74-74 ? 222 +6; T5. Tom Hoge, TCU, 73-73-76 ? 222 +6; T5. Josh Anderson, Pepperdine, 75-72-75 ? 222 +6; T9. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 72-74-77 ? 223 +7; T9. Roger Sloan, UTEP, 77-72-74 ? 223 +7; T9. Espen Kofstad, Denver, 75-71-77 ? 223 +7.
LSU SCORES
T3. John Peterson, 70-76-75 ? 221 +5
T9. Andrew Loupe, 72-74-77 ? 223 +7
T37. Clayton Rotz, 76-79-79 ? 234 +18
T54. Sang Yi, 80-78-81 ? 239 +23
T73. Josh Jones, 82-84-91 ? 257 +41
LSU