LSU's Peterson Wins NCAA Championship


Louisiana State's John Peterson shot a 72 Thursday to win the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. He finished 54 holes at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., in 5-under 211 (74-65-72). His second-round 65 set a new competitive course record.

UCLA's Patrick Cantlay missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole that would have tied Peterson and forced extra holes. Cantlay, who's won four times this year and is likely to be named college golf's Player of the Year, closed with a 69 to finish a stroke behind Peterson.

Peterson, a senior, joined LSU freshman Austin Ernst as the Tigers' other NCAA individual medalist this year. Two weeks ago at The Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, Ernst won the title in the NCAA Women's Golf Championship, marking the first time that players from the same school have won the men's and women's titles in the same year.

At the end of Thursday's stroke-play portion of the championship, UCLA, with a total score of 872, held a three-stroke edge over Georgia Tech and seven over pre-tournament favorite Oklahoma State, which is hosting the tournament.

The top eight teams qualified for match play, with the winner of that portion becoming the 2011 NCAA Team champion: the other schools are defending national champions Augusta State, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio State and Duke.