BATON ROUGE – Two former LSU golfers took a big step toward securing their PGA Tour card for the 2013-14 season while competing on the Web.com Tour this weekend as 2011 NCAA Champion John Peterson took third place and Andrew Loupe finished in a tie for 12th place at the Cox Classic Presented by Lexus of Omaha at Champions Run.
Peterson was brilliant in earning his second top-10 finish of the Web.com Tour season while firing a 72-hole score of 20-under par 264 for third place overall and a Sunday payday of $54,400.
Peterson fired rounds of 5-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round, 6-under 65 in Friday’s second round, 5-under 66 in Saturday’s third round and 4-under 67 in Sunday’s final round to claim his best finish of the year.
The Fort Worth, Texas, native and former three-time All-American finished just one shot out of a sudden-death playoff for the Cox Classic title as Bronson La’Cassie and Matt Bettencourt tied for the top spot with total scores of 21-under par 263 in 72 holes. La’Cassie defeated Bettencourt with a two-putt par on the third playoff hole to take home the title as Cox Classic champion.
Loupe was also impressive on the weekend after opening the championship with a leading score of 8-under par 63 in the first round to grab a one-shot lead after 18 holes. Loupe then finished within a stroke of the top spot after 54 holes after firing rounds of 3-under 68 in the second round and 4-under 67 in the third round before finishing with a 1-over 72 for a 72-hole score of 14-under par 270 to tie for 12th place overall.
Loupe’s finish and $16,200 payday moved him into the Top 75 of the final Web.com Tour Regular Season Money List of the 2013 season in the No. 70 spot to earn a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals with a PGA Tour card on the line. Peterson is also looking to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2013-14 season after wrapping up the Web.com Tour regular season ranked No. 30 on the tour’s final money list.
Peterson earned a total of $134,569 with his performance on the Web.com Tour this season, while Loupe ended the regular season with $69,014 in earnings to advance to this year’s Web.com Tour Finals.
The Web.com Tour Finals brings together the Top 75 money earners on the final Web.com Tour Money List of the regular season and players finishing in Nos. 126-200 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list to battle in a series of four full-field stroke play tournaments for 50 PGA Tour cards granting exemption status for the 2013-14 season.
The Top 25 players on the final Web.com Tour Money List of the regular season have already had 25 of those coveted PGA Tour cards as they will now compete for their priority ranking, while the remainder of the field will play for the final 25 PGA Tour cards. The Web.com Tour Finals wraps up Sept. 26-29 at the Web.com Tour Championship being held at TPC Sawgrass’ Valley Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fa.