John Peterson to retire at 29 after missing conditional status by 0.58 FedEx Cup points
Photo: Rob Carr | Getty Images
If that's the last the sport has seen of John Peterson, he went out guns blazing.
Peterson, a former NCAA champion and three-time All-American, has been playing this year on a medical exemption, and announced at the Wells Fargo Championship in May that if he failed to earn conditional status in his remaining starts, he was going to retire from professional golf.
“I'm kind of freewheeling it at this point,” Peterson said in Charlotte. “I know a little bit has been said about me retiring if I don't make the necessary money for my medical starts, and all that's true. If I don't make it, I'm not playing golf anymore.”
The Greenbrier marked Peterson's last outing on the exemption, and after making the cut on the number, the 29-year-old turned in a fourth-round 66 to jump up the leaderboard. It was good enough for a T-13 finish, earning him a $121,362 check and 52.12 FedEx Cup points. However, because his exemption goes back to 2015, he's playing off that year's point allotment (long story), and in that standing, Peterson earned 54.75 points.
Which is 0.58 points short of earning conditional status.
Peterson, who provided social-media commentary throughout Sunday afternoon of his pending status, confirmed his retirement following the tournament, starting the note out with, "It's been a fun ride."
"The system is brutal, and aggravating," Peterson wrote. "Maybe there's an error in there...
"I appreciate everyone's support throughout my career."
Theoretically, Peterson could try to regain his card through the Web.com Finals, but it appears at peace with his decision. The LSU product has mentioned aspirations of going into real estate.
In 91 career starts on tour, Peterson made more than $2.16 million. His best finish came at the 2012 U.S. Open, where he finished T-4.
- Joel Beall | GolfDigest.com
Brutal is a good word to describe the pressure each tournament places on these golfers. From the qualifying rounds, the Web.com Tour (where only the top 25 points finishers out of 100's of golfers get their Tour cards for the next year), to the big leagues of the PGA, each tournament matters, especially to those non-household names.
To miss getting next year's Tour card by 0.58 points is even more brutal. Now, John Peterson has done quite well for himself financially, but to put in so much work for what I'm sure has been nearly his entire life and retire from the game at 29 reminds us how hard it really is to make it in this sport.
Part of me thinks he doesn't stay in retirement, he's a decent player. You know he'll be watching a tournament sometime in the near future and he'll start to get that itch to compete again. Or maybe he'll look around at his palatial estate and say, "Nah, I'm good.".
- Stephen Reckers | SJR Golf
