Lake Nona's Peter Uihlein can look ahead to another week of class - then the Masters. (Getty Images)
After his first PGA Tour start as reigning U.S. Amateur champion, Peter Uihlein has a couple of stops left before Augusta National.
“I’ve got to go back to class,” said Uihlein, who played the Transitions Championship while on spring break from Oklahoma State.
After a 72-72 weekend at Innisbrook, Uihlein’s spring break resulted in a tie for 57th. Not terrible, but with a new awareness of where his game needs to get before his real target – a Masters debut just 2 1/2 weeks away.
“Iron play,” he said. “That wasn’t very good this week. I’ve got to fine-tune that a little bit – really a little bit of everything.”
Uihlein, whose family keeps a home at Lake Nona, hit just 59 percent of his greens in regulation (43 of 72).
Though he finished his junior career as the nation’s No.1 player, Uihlein only got one previous invitation to measure his skills against PGA Tour competition – missing the cut at the 2006 Hartford stop.
That was before struggling in his freshman year at OSU, then a resurgence to win the U.S. Amateur crown last summer at Chambers Bay in Washington. Though he’s now more of a known commodity, he hasn’t rushed out to accept invitations.
Asked the biggest difference he’s found this week, Uihlein said it was the crowds that followed him.
“You don’t play in front of big crowds in college, so it’s just the people being there,” he said. “I think this golf course is great – one of the better tracks I’ve ever played.”
Uihlein has a match-play showdown next weekend against British Amateur champion Jin Jeong for the Georgia Cup, after which he’ll truly turn his focus to the Masters.
“It still hasn’t really hit me yet, I guess,” said Uihlein, who has gotten a couple of practice rounds in at Augusta National. “I’m sure it will when I get there, but it’s still a few weeks off.”