BATON ROUGE – LSU’s three-time All-American and 2011 NCAA men’s golf individual champion John Peterson will put his pitching prowess on display on Tuesday as he is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as the Texas Rangers play host to the Seattle Mariners at 7:05 p.m. at the Ballpark in Arlington.
Peterson, a native of nearby Fort Worth, was invited to throw out the first pitch following his national title win at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships on June 2.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now,” Peterson said. “It’s exciting to be able to walk out on that mound and throw out a first pitch. I’m sure I’ll be pretty nervous out there trying to throw a strike. I’d say I’ll be more nervous for that than standing over any putt to win a golf tournament. I’ve practiced quite a bit. Maybe I should just go with the Nolan Ryan high leg kick and fire it in there.”
Peterson became the third LSU Tiger in program history to be crowned the NCAA individual champion at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., when he fired a 5-under par 211 for 54 holes to take the title by one stroke over UCLA freshman and National Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay.
He is now awaiting a potential selection to the U.S. Walker Cup team before embarking on a professional career. Similar to the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup is one of the top events in amateur golf worldwide with teams from the United States and Great Britain competing in match play for the championship.