PINEHURST, N.C. — LSU sophomore Andrew Loupe kicked off the match play competition at the 109th North & South Amateur Championship on Wednesday with a crushing 5 and 4 win over No. 1 seed and defending champion Matt Savage in a thrilling match at Pinehurst No. 2.
Loupe, who earned the final spot in the match play competition by winning a playoff following a 3-over 74 in Tuesday’s qualifying round, got off to a fast start and never looked back in defeating the Florida State All-American in 14 holes by a score of 5 and 4.
With the win, Loupe advances to the second round to be played Thursday as he will battle No. 32 seed Lion Kim, who is fresh off an All-America sophomore season at the University of Michigan.
Despite competing as the No. 64 seed, Loupe fired out of the blocks against Savage with a pair of birdies on the par-four first and par-four second holes to take a quick 2-up lead. He then increased his lead to 3-up with a birdie at the par-three sixth before falling back to 2-up after Savage birdied the par-four seventh. Loupe then increased his lead to 4-up following birdies at No. 10 and No. 13 before closing out the match 5 and 4 with a birdie at No. 14.
Loupe and Kim will square off Thursday at 6:30 a.m. CT for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. Live scoring of the tournament can be found online at www.golfstat.com.