PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – LSU senior All-American and Ben Hogan Award candidate John Peterson fired an opening round 5-under par 67 to lead the No. 7-ranked LSU men’s golf team Sunday at the John Hayt Invitational as the Tigers ended the day in third place with a team score of 4-under 284.
The Tigers find themselves squarely in the championship picture as they trail only the matching scores of 6-under 282 by Auburn and TCU during Sunday’s competition at Sawgrass Country Club.
Peterson, who won medalist honors at the John Hayt Invitational during his sophomore season in 2009, is just one shot clear of five other golfers after firing his best career round in three appearances with the Tigers at Sawgrass. His previous best was a final round 2-under 70 to capture the individual title in 2009.
Peterson was nearly flawless on his opening round as he carded six birdies to just one bogey for a score of 5-under 67. After making the turn at 2-under for his round with birdies at the par-three sixth and par-five eighth holes, Peterson made three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine at the par-five 11th, par-four 13th and par-four 14th holes, as well as another birdie at the par-four 16th hole. His only bogey through the first round came at the par-three 12th hole as he grabbed the top spot on the leaderboard.
Fellow senior Ken Looper, who currently leads the Tigers with three top-10 finishes on the year, is now at the cusp of yet another top-10 finish after finishing the first round in a tie for 12th place on the leaderboard with an opening 2-under par 70. Looper’s round was highlighted by an eagle at the par-five 11th hole, with also four birdies en route to a 2-under in his first career appearance with the Tigers at Sawgrass.
Freshman Andrew Presley posted a 1-over 73 to finish the day in a tie for 33rd place, while senior Andrew Loupe is tied for 41st place at 2-over 74 and junior Austin Gutgsell is tied for 49th place at 3-over 75.
The Tigers are paired with co-leaders Auburn and TCU in Monday’s second round and will tee off on the front nine beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring for the second round Monday and final round Tuesday at the John Hayt Invitational will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL – SUNDAY RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
T1. Auburn 282 -6; T1. TCU 282 -6; 3. LSU 284 -4; 4. Arkansas 285 -3; 5. Florida 286 -2; 6. Coastal Carolina 287 -1; T7. Tennessee 289 +1; T7. Central Florida 289 +1; 9. Tulsa 290 +2; T10. North Florida 292 +4; T10. Georgia Southern 292 +4; 12. Ole Miss 293 +5; 13. Mercer 294 +6; 14. UAB 297 +9; 15. Jacksonville 307 +19.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. John Peterson, LSU, 67 -5; T2. Connor Arendell, Central Florida, 68 -4; T2. Robin Wingardh, Tennessee, 68 -4; T2. Blayne Barber, Auburn, 68 -4; T2. Thomas Sutton, UAB, 68 -4; T2. Phillip Choi, Florida, 68 -4; T7. Pontus Gad, TCU, 69 -3; T7. Johan de Beer, TCU, 69 -3; T7. Michael Hebert, Auburn, 69 -3; T7. Sebastian Cappelen, Arkansas, 69 -3; T7. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 69 -3.
LSU SCORES
1. John Peterson, 67 -5
T12. Ken Looper, 70 -2
T33. Andrew Presley, 73 +1
T41. Andrew Loupe, 74 +2
T49. Austin Gutgsell, 75 +3