BATON ROUGE – After being crowned this year’s NCAA individual champion with a one-stroke victory on Thursday at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships, LSU senior John Peterson was chosen a PING First-Team All-American as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Peterson is one of just 11 players nationwide to be selected as a PING First-Team All-American this year, as he defeated fellow first-teamer Patrick Cantlay of UCLA by a single stroke to claim the national crown with a 54-hole score of 5-under par 211 at Oklahoma State’s Karsten Creek in Stillwater.
Peterson’s 5-under 211 for the championship includes a course record and career best 7-under par 65 with Wednesday’s second round. He clinched the championship with an even-par 72 in Thursday’s final round.
With his win, Callaway has also presented Peterson with the NCAA Division I Arnold Palmer Award that is given each season to the individual champion at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.
Peterson is the ninth different LSU golfer to earn First-Team All-America honors during his career, which also the likes of former Tiger standouts Fred Haas, Jr. (1937), Earl Stewart (1941), Sonny Ellis (1943), Gardner Dickinson (1948), Johnny Pott (1955), B.R. McLendon (1967), Wayne DeFrancesco (1979), and David Toms (1988, 1989). Friday’s selection is just the first of many this postseason for the LSU senior.
In winning this year’s NCAA crown, Peterson snapped a 70-year drought as the first Tiger to take home a national title at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships since Haas in 1937 and Stewart in 1941.
After also picking up a Second-Team All-America honor in 2009 and an Honorable Mention All-America accolade in 2010, Peterson becomes just the fifth three-time All-American in program history, which also includes Eddie Merrins (1952-54) and Rob McNamara (1985-87) along with McLendon and Toms.
Peterson will go down as one of the most decorated golfers in the history of the LSU men’s program as he has already earned his second First-Team All-SEC and third PING All-Southeast Region honors in 2011.
The LSU golf program made history with Peterson’s victory Thursday as it became the first school during the history of the NCAA Championships sweeping the men’s and women’s individual crowns in the same season. Lady Tigers freshman Austin Ernst took home the NCAA women’s crown nearly two weeks ago at the event hosted by Texas A&M at The Traditions Golf Club in College Station.
2011 NCAA Division I PING First-Team All-Americans
Patrick Cantlay, UCLA
Bud Cauley, Alabama
Luke Guthrie, Illinois
Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State
John Peterson, LSU
Patrick Reed, Augusta State
Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State
Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State
Bank Vongvanij, Florida
James White, Georgia Tech
Andrew Yun, Stanford