ERIN, Wis. – For the second time in three years, former LSU standout John Peterson earned the right to compete for the United States Amateur Championship in match play after finishing among the event’s top 64 qualifiers in two rounds of stroke play wrapping up Wednesday afternoon at Erin Hills Golf Club.
Peterson fired a 36-hole score of 3-under par 139 to finish in a tie for 19th place overall and easily earn his place in the match play field as the No. 29 seed for the championship.
Peterson raced out to a fast start by firing a 2-under 68 in Monday’s opening round at nearby Blue Mound Golf & Country Club before securing his spot in match play with a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round at Erin Hills Golf Club. With the start of Tuesday’s action delayed by severe thunderstorms for more than three hours, the second round was not completed until early Wednesday afternoon.
Peterson, the 2011 NCAA champion and No. 7-ranked amateur in the world for the 2011 season, is slated to tee off in the first round of match play against No. 36 seed Todd Baek of South Korea on Wednesday at 4:03 p.m. CDT at Erin Hills. Baek recently wrapped up a standout freshman season at San Diego State.
This marks the second time in three-straight appearances at the U.S. Amateur that Peterson has earned his spot in match play as he advanced to the Round of 32 as the No. 53 seed in 2009.
With a win over Baek in the first round, Peterson would earn a spot in a second-round match scheduled to tee off at 8:10 a.m. on Thursday. The tournament’s Sweet 16 will also be held Thursday afternoon at Erin Hills, followed by the Elite Eight on Friday and Final Four on Saturday. The championship match is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday as the two finalists will play 36 holes for the Havemeyer Trophy.