It was never about invitations to the fanciest clubs, the biggest sponsorships or the nicest cars.
In fact, for a time it seemed he would be remembered most as a side-door entrant: someone who didn’t mind gritting his teeth and grinding out par against more talented players, despite a gap in raw ability that was evident even to him.
“In a nutshell… I have felt like I have done more with less than most,” John Peterson told GOLF.com Tuesday from his truck, en route to pick up supplies for his farm in Texas. “I think that’s probably what I’m most proud about when I look back on my golf career.”
Like everything else, Peterson’s pride came the hard way. He was once one of the best collegiate golfers in the world, winning the 2011 NCAA individual title at LSU, only to emerge from his championship glow and find no guaranteed pathway to the PGA Tour. After failing at Q School and nearly going broke chasing Monday qualifiers and mini-tour starts, Peterson became one of the best underdog stories in the game: a local and sectional qualifier who stood over a birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club that would have tied the clubhouse lead. (He lagged it to a foot instead, securing a tie for fourth and a spot in the next year’s Masters.) Then he shifted into life as one of the Tour’s preeminent everymen, making 91 starts over a handful of seasons. And then came another life change, this time as a pro golf retiree. He lingered on the fringes of the game for a while (and retired twice!) before settling down on his farm in Texas with his family.
Peterson has built a new life in the years since. He’s the father of four kids, the eldest of whom is 8. He’s a business owner, running Westoplex Garage, a Fort Worth company that installs automatic gates, overhead doors and epoxy floors. And he’s a casual golfer for the first time in his life, logging roughly 20 rounds a year and, eventually, regaining his amateur status.
“I used to play 20 times in a month,” Peterson says with a chuckle. “Golf is just a hobby at this point, and really not even that.”
Still, parts of the pro experience lingered in his consciousness. Peterson had been a great golfer, but he had never represented the U.S. in a team event. He was left off the 2011 U.S. Walker Cup team after the best season of his life at LSU, and he never got close to wearing the stars and stripes again.
Peterson thought he might live with that “what if?” forever, and that he might never know what it was like to play for the red, white and blue.
But not anymore.
Next week, Peterson will be part of the American side competing against the rest of the world in the Bridges Cup, an elite mid-amateur competition held this year at Trump Turnberry in Scotland.
While his playing time has dwindled, Peterson has worked to sharpen his game. This summer, he teed it up in the Jones Cup, the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Southern Amateur. Earlier this year, he also competed as a wild card in Your Golf Tour, the YouTube circuit co-founded by George and Wesley Bryan, which drew millions of views.
“I’d spent nine years playing pro golf, some of it at the highest level in the world, and never been recognized in an airport,” he said. “The week after that thing came out, I got stopped three times in the Atlanta airport.”
The buzz has faded a bit in the months since, but the experience reinforced something in Peterson’s mind: golf is a game of shared experiences. Next week, when he dons the American uniform for the first time, he’ll be reminded of something else. Even when your pro career ends, those experiences remain.
“I still get to wear the red, white and blue, which is going to be awesome,” Peterson says.
