Andrew

Loupe

The 33-year-old Loupe carded eight birdies and two bogeys en route to a 6-under 66 on Monday, and he’ll be joined at TPC Craig Ranch by medalist Wesley Bryan (64), and Conrad Shindler and Kyle Wilshire, who both also shot 66 and advanced via a 4-for-1 playoff over Austin Eckroat. Loupe last appeared on Tour at the Barbason Championship last July, where he finished 74th. He also made two Korn Ferry Tour starts last season, missing cuts at the Wichita Open (September 2020) and Chitimacha Open (March 2021). Loupe, who played collegiately at LSU, has one KFT win, at the 2015 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.

Loupe’s 2013 Web.com Tour debut featured seven birdies to just one bogey. Considering this is just his eighth start on this tour, with his previous best a T13 in 2012, there is a high probability this week could produce a career-high result. He earned status this year based on his T64 in the final stage of the 2012 Q School. He is exempt from the first reshuffle, and a big week this week could remove any doubt as to his status for the entire season.

Loupe began and ended his morning with eagles. He opened his day on the par-5 10th with the first eagle, then holed out on the par-4 ninth for the second. In all, his lap around Champions Run also included six birdies and one double bogey. This isn’t the first time he’s found himself in a share of the 18-hole lead, also doing so at the Panama Claro Open in February.

The rookie stepped onto the property this week having missed the cut in all five of his starts. On top of that, he had broken par just once in 11 rounds. Today’s is the lowest round of his career by four strokes. Loupe split 12 (of 13) fairways and hit 17 greens in regulation en route to eight birdies, including on each of the four par 5s. He’ll attempt to extend this form into another head-turner at Pebble Beach on Friday.

Technically, he slept on the lead even though 40 golfers had yet to finish the lid-lifter until this morning. Still, his opening 63 held up as low aggregate and in relation to par. In the second round, he went just 2-for-12 in par-breaker opportunities, but squared three consecutive bogeys beginning at the par-3 17th hole. The first two were as a result of three-putts. Now 7-under 136, he’s strokes off the 36-hole clubhouse lead in relation to par.

Two of those three misses occurred during the current season, with the LSU product also failing to cash in the 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In four rounds this year, he has yet to break par, so it’s fair to be wary of a pretty steep learning curve. He found his way on TOUR this year in dramatic fashion. After missing the first three cuts of the Web.com Tour Finals, he tied for sixth in the Web.com Tour Championship to sneak in.

The LSU product opened on the back nine today and added a pair of birdies over his first four holes to reach 8-under on the week. From there, things took a turn for the worse, starting with a penalty off the tee at the par-4 14th, forcing him to reload and ultimately swallow a triple bogey. Still, he managed to make the turn at even-par 35. His inward nine featured a three-jack at the par-4 first, a missed three-footer at the par-4 fourth, and a missed 4'5" bogey-saving attempt at the closing par-4 ninth to seal his fate. Loupe lost 3.103 strokes tee-to-green and another 2.690 strokes putting. The 27-year-old continues to be a birdie machine, but he’ll need to avoid these blowup rounds moving forward. He currently ranks 108th in the FedExCup standings as the end of the regular season starts to poke its head over the horizon.

The LSU product split just eight (of 14) fairways but still managed 13 greens. From there, his short game was clicking early and often. He started with a 21'7" birdie bomb at the par-4 third hole and would finish with three putts from outside 11 feet, including a 41'10" blast at the par-3 11th. In addition to the putts, he also holed out from 41'9" for birdie at the par-4 seventh hole. This was exactly the kind of spark needed for Loupe who entered the week on the heels of six straight missed cuts. This easily goes in the books as his best round at TPC River Highlands as he arrived with an 0-for-2 record with no rounds in red numbers.

A three hour and thirty minute weather delay is the culprit here. Play was officially suspended at 7:52 p.m. CT tonight. Unfortunately there are even more thunderstorms in the forecast on Friday before things clear up for the weekend. It would not be too surprising to see round two action spill over into Saturday. In the meantime, Andrew Loupe set fire to TPC Deere Run today, opening with a blemish-free 5-under 30 on the outward nine and added three more circles after the turn to reach 8-under through 14. Loupe fans still have last week fresh in their minds, as Loupe co-led after round one at the Travelers before missing the cut. On Friday morning he will return to the course and attempt to save par from eight feet at the par-4 15th. The trio of clubhouse leaders are all stationed at 6-under but Loupe will want to rack up as many birdies as possible to avoid the same fate as last week.

The LSU product rocketed out of the gates with birdies in five of his first eight holes, eight of his first 14. Despite hitting just half of his fairways (7-of-14) and 13 greens, he still circled eight birdies thanks to this flat stick. On the day, he fired in 10 putts from outside seven feet, including four putts from 12-to-16 feet. Loupe walked off the course gaining 4.290 strokes putting, first in the field. This situation may look familiar to gamers as Loupe also co-led through round one last week at the Travelers before ballooning to miss the cut. It’s highly unlikely that we see a repeat this week at TPC Deere Run.