LSU senior All-American John Peterson posted a 4-under-par 68 to storm back from six shots behind and capture the 2011 Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club in South Carolina.    Peterson struggled out of the gate of the prestigious three-round invitational with a 4-over-par 76 on Friday, but kept himself on the fringes of contention with a second round 73 on the extremely difficult Ocean Forest Golf Club.    Entering the third and final round six shots out of the lead and in 12th place, Peterson used four birdies in the first eight holes to shoot up the leaderboard early in Sunday’s final round.    After bogeying the 18th hole — his only bogey of the day — Peterson was left anxiously awaiting the final pairing’s finish for nearly an hour.    Texas recruit and second-round co-leader Jordan Spieth also bogeyed the final hole, forcing a playoff with Peterson.    Both players faced testy 10-foot birdie putts on the first playoff hole, but it was Peterson who poured his in for an improbable victory.    Despite the struggles in his opening round, Peterson, who is ranked 54th in the latest Golfweek rankings, said he managed to grind it out during the early adversity.    “I was even thinking to myself that I was going to win it in the first round when I was three or four over.” Peterson said in a news release. “I didn’t think that anybody could beat me if I played my best.”    The victory is the third of Peterson’s stellar LSU career and his first in nearly two years, dating back to the 2009 John Hayt invitational.    A key factor in Peterson’s solid final two rounds was his premium ball-striking skills, as he hit 33 of 36 greens in regulation during the course of Saturday and Sunday.    “We worked Tuesday before he left on reducing the amount of right-to-left movement in his shot pattern,” coach Chuck Winstead said in a news release. “He really had a great weekend of ball striking. That was the key to his performance.”    The Jones Cup Invitational is a biennial amateur tournament that has consistently attracted some of the best fields in collegiate golf, including 13 All-Americans in this year’s installment.    Peterson’s victory provides No. 6 LSU with even more momentum on the heels of an impressive fall as they begin the spring portion of their season this Saturday in the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.   —-
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