Peter Teravainen

Peter Teravainen (born April 23, 1956) is an American professional golfer. He briefly played on the PGA Tour, in 1980, but did not have much success. For the remainder of his career he primarily played overseas, culminating with wins at the 1995 Chemapol Trophy Czech Open on the European Tour and the 1996 Japan Open Golf Championship on the Japan Golf Tour.

Early life Teravainen was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and raised in Duxbury, Massachusetts. His father was a high school athletic director and basketball coach. His mother was a nurse. He is one of four children. He played on the Yale Bulldogs golf team at college. Teravainen was regarded as the best player and was an All-American in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He was team captain his senior year. In 1976 he finished second place at the Massachusetts Amateur to Bruce Douglass. He won the individual Ivy League Championship in his junior and senior year. However, he did not find much success during his rookie 1980 season. He made the cut in only one event and was not close to keeping his card. Teravainen again tried to qualify for the PGA Tour at the Fall 1981 PGA Tour Qualifying School but failed by one shot. Back then the European Tour accepted the top 15 golfers who did not qualify for the PGA Tour at its Qualifying School. Teravainen accepted their invitation and began a long relationship with the European Tour.

In the early 1990s his career almost ended. He had two knee operations in 1993 and could only play part-time. The following year he was plagued by tendinitis in the shoulder. By 1995, his career had hit rock bottom. This year shin problems contributed to poor play. He missed the cut or withdrew from 16 of his first 21 European Tour events; in the remaining five he usually finished near the bottom (a T34 was his only top 50). Late in the summer, he won his first professional event at the Chemapol Trophy Czech Open. Teravainen played three solid rounds in the 60s before shooting a final round 67 (−4) to overcome overnight leaders Howard Clark and Ronan Rafferty.

Despite finally winning after 14 seasons of struggle, Teravainen would soon quit the European Tour. He had married a woman in Singapore and the country had been his primary residence for years so he decided to focus on Asia. The victory would give him a 10-year exemption in Japan. Teravainen, who was already phasing out his European Tour schedule, would play in very limited schedule in Europe from then on and rarely in other parts of the world to focus on Japan. 1997 was another excellent season for Teravainen. He would win the Descente Classic Munsingwear Cup and finish second in the Japan Match Play, losing to Japanese star Shigeki Maruyama in the finals. These performances would help him break into the top 100 in the world for the first time in his career. He would also qualify for the Open Championship and, for only the second time, the U.S. Open that summer. He was suddenly something of a celebrity in Japan. He was recognized by many across the country and wrote about his life for Japanese golf magazines. Sports Illustrated eventually featured him in a full-length profile. He married Veronica, a Singaporean woman of Chinese descent, Southeastern Amateur 1978 New England Intercollegiate Championship, Southeastern Amateur 1989 Singapore PGA Championship