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A trip home for the holiday week gave Peter Jung another reason to give thanks.
A freshman at Washington State, Jung returned from the Palouse for the Thanksgiving break with a shot to qualify for January’s Sony Open in Hawaii fitting neatly into his schedule.
The Maryknoll graduate made the most of his trip by earning his second appearance in the PGA Tour’s annual stop on Oahu with a birdie-birdie finish to win Monday’s qualifier for local amateurs at Waialae Country Club.
Jung’s closing surge capped a round of 1-under-par 71 and left him two shots clear of Blaze Akana and Dane Watanabe for a spot among the 144 players who will tee off in the Tour’s first full-field event of 2022, set for Jan. 13-16 at Waialae.
“This is the biggest opportunity,” Jung said. “So real blessed.”
Friends of Hawaii Charities, the tournament host, annually reserves a berth in the field for a local amateur, with the 12-player field determined by the Hawaii State Golf Association’s season-long points race.
Jung earned a sizable chunk of his tally by winning the Manoa Cup in June before heading off to Washington State. He played his way into the Cougars’ lineup and carded his lowest round of the fall schedule with a 67 in the second round of the Saint Mary’s Invitational on Nov. 9 at Poppy Hill Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Jung qualified for the 2019 Sony Open as a 16-year-old Maryknoll sophomore. While he struggled through his two rounds at Waialae that week, the experience of playing with the pros gives him something to build on three years later.
“You can’t compare college golf with a tour event — it’s just different,” Jung said. “I’m going to try to remember everything I did in ’19 and use it toward this.”
He came close to playing his way into the 2020 Sony Open when he fell to Tyler Ota in a playoff in the qualifier, and memories of that round helped spur him to Monday’s win.
“I was under par at the turn and I just gave away stupid bogeys over and over,” Jung recalled. “So I was thinking about that and I wasn’t trying to press anything.”
This time Jung made the turn at even par after seeing a few birdie opportunities slip away, then jumped into the lead by dropping a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 10th hole.
“That was the first putt where I really committed to my line,” Jung said.
He alternated bogeys and pars over the next six holes, taking a peek at his phone on No. 15 to check on the status of the field. An 8-foot par save on the par-3 No. 16 kept him at 1 over.
After his chip to the 17th green, “I thought I missed the putt by a mile and it went in the hole. So I was like, ‘OK, thanks.’”
Knowing even par would likely be enough, Jung positioned himself 46 yards from the green for his third shot on No. 18. He placed a wedge 7 feet from the pin and dropped the putt to seal the win.
“It was nice. I think that was more important then 17,” he said. “I could have slacked off and taken the par in, but I wanted that birdie.”
His Sony Open spot secure, Jung will head back to school next week to finish the semester with final exams in December.
“After that, come back and game on,” he said.
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