PINEHURST, N.C. ? LSU sophomore Andrew Loupe saw his impressive run as the No. 64 seed at the 109th North & South Amateur Championship come to an end Thursday with a narrow 2 and 1 defeat to Florida’s Tyson Alexander in the quarterfinal round of match play at Pinehurst No. 2.
After defeating the No. 1 seed and defending tournament champion Matt Savage of Florida State on Wednesday, Loupe advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 against Alexander as the duo battled for the right to qualify for the final eight slated for Friday morning at the historic venue.
Alexander proved to be one of the premier players in the Southeastern Conference this season as he is coming off an appearance in the 109th U.S. Open Championship two weeks ago.
With Alexander holding a 1-up advantage after the first hole of the match, Loupe battled back for 1-up lead after making back-to-back birdies on the par-five fourth and par-four fifth holes. But Alexander closed out the front nine by winning three of the final four holes to take a 2-up lead at the turn. Alexander closed out the match by matching Loupe with a par at the par-three 17th hole.
Loupe advanced to the Sweet 16 with a dominating 4 and 3 victory Thursday morning over Lion Kim, who is fresh off of an All-American sophomore season at the University of Michigan.
Loupe quickly jumped out to a 1-up lead with a birdie on the par-four first hole before moving to 3-up following a birdie on the par-four fifth and a par on the par-three sixth holes. He then held a firm grip on the match with a 4-up lead at the turn after making birdie on the par-three ninth.
Just when it seemed that Kim was poised to close the gap on the back nine with birdies at the par-five 10th and par-four 13th holes, Loupe responded immediately by winning holes No. 12 and No. 13. Loupe closed out the match 4 and 3 by making par on the par-three 15th hole.