LAFAYETTE, La. - After opening Tuesday's final round of the 25th-annual Louisiana Classics in a three-way tie for the top spot in the team standings, the LSU men's golf team earned a two-shot victory over the 13th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini on the strength of junior Andrew Loupe's first career individual victory in the two-day, 54-hole event held at Oakbourne Country Club.
The Tigers returned to Baton Rouge with their second tournament championship of the 2009-10 campaign after posting a three-round score of even-par 864, including a 4-over 292 in the final round.
LSU, which opened the final round in a dead heat with Illinois and Tulsa at 4-under par 572, outlasted the competition on an unfavorable afternoon at Oakbourne Country Club to win the title. The Fighting Illini were two shots back at 2-over 866, while the Golden Hurricane finished seven shots back at 7-over 871.
It marked the second win of the season for the Tigers after defending their home turf with a narrow win at the David Toms Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Louisiana back in October in their fall finale.
"I'm certainly pleased with the result," said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead." Illinois is a great club and played well enough to win. Our guys just hung in there and battled until the very end to get the victory. I think playing in Lafayette gave us a big boost because there is a tremendous LSU following in this part of the state. We want to say 'thank you' to the fans that turned out to cheer on the guys this week.
"This was just another positive step forward for our team. We're about to hit the meat of our schedule and must continue to improve with each event as we head toward the postseason."
After opening with a 2-over 74 in the first round on Monday, Loupe was dominant in the second and third rounds while firing back-to-back scores of 5-under 67 to defeat Illinois standout Scott Langley by a single stroke with a 54-hole score of 8-under par 208. Loupe's 8-under 208 is a new career-low for 54 holes and ties fellow junior John Peterson for the lowest three-round score in relation to par this season.
Loupe had been on the cusp of capturing his first career individual championship throughout his career as he finished runner-up at the John Hayt Invitational as a sophomore in 2009 and at the Gator Invitational in LSU's spring season opener just one month ago.
Loupe's performance in winning the Louisiana Classics title has put him in a position to earn All-SEC and All-American honors this season as he has now finished in the top five in three of his last four events.
"Andrew had a heck of a week. He's one of the best players in the country and has certainly been playing like it each time out, it seems," Winstead said. "He may have thrown away some shots in the first round, but he hung in there and played lights out in each of the last two. That is the way we expected him to play and he really stepped it up for us again this week. He was tremendous."
Sophomore standout Sang Yi earned his first Top 10 finish of the season by tying for 10th place with a 54-hole score of 1-over 217, including a solid even-par round of 72 on Tuesday. Yi has emerged as a key cog in the LSU machine with his performance this spring after tying for 12th place on the board in a runner-up team finish at the John Hayt Invitational just one week ago.
Despite opening with a 5-over 41 on his front nine, junior John Peterson bounced back with an even-par 36 on his back nine to finish the final round with a 5-over par score of 77 en route to a tie for 15th place on the final leaderboard. Peterson carded a 2-over 218 in three rounds at the Louisiana Classics.
Sophomore Austin Gutgsell finished in a tie for 24th place overall at 5-over 221, while senior Brent Blaum finished in a tie for 78th place in the individual standings at 21-over 237.
While competing as individuals, junior Clayton Rotz tied for 35th place with a 54-hole score of 7-over 223 that includes a 2-over 73 in the final round, while senior Brian Leveille tied Blaum for 78th place in the final individual standings with a matching three-round total of 21-over par 237.
"We continue to see Sang and Austin progress every week. They'll only continue to get better," Winstead said. "I'm also very proud of John to come back with an even-par on his back nine when we really needed it the most. He's just a fighter. He will never quit and give you everything he's got to the very end. That's why he is an All-American. His performance down the stretch was a key for us today."
The Tigers return to action March 19-21 when they make their annual trip to Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga., to compete in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern.
LOUISIANA CLASSICS - FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. LSU 295-277-292 - 864 E; 2. Illinois 284-288-294 - 866 +2; 3. Tulsa 289-283-299 - 871 +7; 4. Southeastern Louisiana 287-293-301 - 881 +17; 5. Memphis 289-304-289 - 882 +18; T6. Texas State 296-296-293 - 885 +21; T6. UAB 293-294-298 - 885 +21; T8. Southern Mississippi 294-296-296 - 886 +22; T8. New Orleans 297-296-293 - 886 +22; 10. SMU 299-293-295 - 887 +23; 11. Arkansas-Little Rock 295-301-293 - 889 +25; 12. Houston 297-290-309 - 896 +32; 13. Colorado 293-295-309 - 897 +33; 14. Louisiana-Lafayette 302-296-301 - 899 +35; 15. Kansas 299-301-307 - 907 +43.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 74-67-67 - 208 -8; 2. Scott Langley, Illinois, 68-68-73 - 209 -7; 3. Ken Looper, New Orleans, 73-70-68 - 211 -5; T4. Paul Apyan, Southern Mississippi, 73-69-72 - 214 -2; T4. Philipp Westermann, Southeastern Louisiana, 69-71-74 - 214 -2; 6. Kelly Kraft, SMU, 75-68-72 - 215 -1; T7. Steve Lee, Memphis, 73-74-69 - 216 E; T7. Oscar Zetterwall, New Orleans, 70-72-74 - 216 E; T7. Stephen Carney, Tulsa, 73-70-73 - 216 E; T10. Sang Yi, LSU, 75-70-72 - 217 +1; T10. Linus Gillgren, Arkansas-Little Rock, 73-74-70 - 217 +1; T10. Cedric Scotto, Southeastern Louisiana, 69-73-75 - 217 +1; T10. Adam West, UAB, 70-70-77 - 217 +1; T10. Matt Hoffman, Illinois, 72-72-73 - 217 +1.
LSU SCORES
1. Andrew Loupe, 74-67-67 - 208 -8
T10. Sang Yi, 75-70-72 - 217 +1
T15. John Peterson, 72-69-77 - 218 +2
T24. Austin Gutgsell, 74-71-76 - 221 +5
T35. Clayton Rotz, 79-71-73 - 223 +7*
T78. Brent Blaum, 78-80-79 - 237 +21
T78. Brian Leveille, 80-74-83 - 237 +21*
* - Indicates player competing as an individual
