SEA ISLAND, Ga. – After firing a 4-under par 68 to overcome a seemingly insurmountable six-shot deficit entering Sunday’s final round of the 2011 Jones Cup Invitational, LSU’s senior All-American John Peterson defeated Texas recruit Jordan Speith in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff to take home the title at the prestigious event held at Ocean Forest Golf Club.
Peterson, who teed off on the final day of competition in a tie for 12th place on the leaderboard, posted the lowest round of the tournament with his 4-under 68 on Sunday to finish the weekend in a tie for first place overall with Speith with matching 54-hole scores of 1-over par 217.
The duo kicked off the sudden-death playoff with nearly identical 10-foot birdie putts on the par-four first hole. After Speith left his birdie putt short of the hole, Peterson drained his 10-footer for the birdie and the win in what he described as the “biggest (win) of my career so far.”
Peterson was nearly flawless for the final round with his only bogey of the day coming at the par-four 18th hole, after already carding five birdies on the afternoon at holes Nos. 2, 6, 7, 8 and 17.
With his win at the 2011 Jones Cup Invitational, Peterson captured an individual championship in an LSU uniform for the first time in nearly two years since the 2009 John Hayt Invitational.
And he did so against a field featuring many of the nation’s premier amateur and college golfers including 13 Golfweek All-Americans from the 2010 season. Among the All-Americans in the field were such first-team performers as Bud Cauley (Alabama), Harris English (Georgia), Russell Henley (Georgia), Jonathan Randolph (Ole Miss), Patrick Reed (Augusta State) and Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State).
“I’ve always had it in me. From the start, I just believed I was going to win it,” Peterson said. “I was even thinking to myself that I was going to win it in the first round when I was three or four over. I didn’t think that anybody could beat me if I played my best. I just made good decisions on the course.
“That’s more maturity than anything else. (Ocean Forest) is a very tough golf course. It was a grind for all of the guys this weekend, but I was able to stay mentally tough. Those are the guys who played well. This weekend wasn’t so much about talent like most of these tournaments are.”
Peterson’s victory can also be attributed to his exceptional ball striking throughout the weekend as he was able to hit an impressive 33 of the last 36 greens in regulation during the second and third rounds.
“We are all happy for and proud of John. Winning the Jones Cup is a very good way to open up the spring not only for John, but for our entire program,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “We worked Tuesday before he left on reducing the amount of right-to-left movement in his shot pattern. He really had a great weekend of ball striking. That was the key to his performance.”
Peterson will rejoin the Tigers for the start of the 2011 spring season this weekend as No. 6-ranked LSU will make the team’s annual trip to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the Gator Invitational being held at the Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida.