WRAL Sports Fan

Golf

Long, O'Connell continue march at North and South

By Staff and wire reports

Jul 4, 2008

PINEHURST — Jamie Lovemark won the North and South Amateur Championship match play qualifier on Tuesday, and locked up the No. 2 seed. So seeing his name in Saturday's semifinals is not all that surprising. 

Adam Long, on the other hand, earned the 64th and final match play seed and also finds himself in the semifinals of this 108th championship. And his is a surprise name among the final four teeing it up at Pinehurst famed par-71, 7,346-yard No. 2 course.

Joining Lovemark and Long will be 20th-seeded Matt Savage and 46th-seeded Kevin O'Connell.

Long of Wentzville, Mo., and a Duke junior will face off against Savage of Louisville, Ky., in the first semifinal at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, while Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., will meet O'Connell of Cary at 7:40 a.m.

Lovemark advanced with a 3-and-2 win over Ferdinand Aunzo (23rd seed); O'Connell defeated Clemson's Kyle Stanley (54) in 21 holes; Long defeated Morgan Hoffman (25) 2 and 1; and Savage defeated Duke's Andrew Giuliani (21) 6 and 4.

Lovemark is probably the more high-profile of the four semifinalists. The Southern California junior won the 2007 NCAA Championships individual title and is ranked fifth in the Golfweek Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. Savage is 71st ranked, while O'Connell, the ACC Freshman of the Year, is ranked No. 107 and should get a boost after his win over the third-ranked Stanley. Long is ranked 207.

On Friday, against Aunzo, Lovemark found himself in a struggle and needed a Aunzo bogey on the ninth to square his match at the turn. Aunzo bogeyed the 12th and 15th holes, and then missed a crucial birdie attempt on the 16th to lose the match. 

O’Connell and Stanley traded birdies and bogeys the entire match. With the match all square through nine holes, O’Connell would bogey the 13th and 15th holes. Stanley birdied the 13th, but bogeyed the 17th to lose his 1-up lead. After halving the 18th hole, both players birdied the 19th hole and parred the 20th.

On the 21st hole, O’Connell’s second shot on the par-4 third hole came to rest 8 feet shy of the hole and O'Connell made birdie for the win.

Long birdied the second, fourth and seventh holes to take a 4-up lead to the back nine. A birdie at the 16th made the match dormie and Long won with a halve at 17th hole.

Savage led his entire match against Andrew Guiliani, who attends Duke. Savage of Florida State, made birdie on the third, fifth and seventh to take command and then birdied the ninth, 10th and 12th holes to go 5 up. Guiliani bogeyed the 14th, and Savage won 6 and 4.

QUARTERFINALS RESULTS
Adam Long def. Morgan Hoffmann, 2 and 1; Matt Savage def. Andrew Giuliani, 6 and 4; Jamie Lovemark def. Ferdinand Aunzo, 3 and 2; Kevin O’Connell def. Kyle Stanley, 21 holes.