TULSA, Okla. — LSU junior All-American John Peterson saw his run at the 109th United States Amateur Championship come to an end Wednesday in the first round of match play at Southern Hills Country Club with a narrow defeat to Georgia Tech First-Team All-American Cameron Tringale.
The 12th-seeded Tringale earned a 2-up victory over the 53rd-seeded Peterson in a tight battle that was not decided until the 18th and final hole of the first-round match.
Peterson held a 1-up lead four different times during the match, but the two competitors went to the tee at the par-three 14th hole all square. Tringale took his first 1-up lead with a par at No. 14 before pushing his lead to 2-up with a par at the par-four 15th hole. Peterson then extended the match by making birdie at the par-four 17th before Tringale earned a 2-up victory with a birdie at the par-four 18th.
Tringale advances to face No. 44 seed and fellow All-American Bronson Burgoon of Texas A&M at 8:40 a.m. CT in Thursday’s second round.
Peterson earned a spot in the match play competition in his first career appearance at the U.S. Amateur as he finished in a tie for 45th place with a 36-hole score of 7-over 147 in stroke play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday. He actually finished the first round in a tie for second place with an impressive 1-under par round of 69 before earning the No. 53 seed in match play with an 8-over 78 in the second round.
He will now rejoin his LSU teammates as the Tigers prepare for the 2009-10 season opener Sept. 27-28 at the PING/Golfweek Invitational to be held at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.