Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane’s Andrew Von Lossow knocks off second seed to advance to round of 32 at U.S. Amateur

Spokane's Andrew Von Lossow poses   (Courtesy photo)

Spokane’s Andrew Von Lossow had an unforgettable 24 hours at the 122nd U.S. Amateur in Paramus, New Jersey.

Von Lossow had a tough lip-out on his 18th hole Tuesday night that dropped him into a 15-man playoff for the final 11 spots in the 64-player match-play bracket. He made it through the playoff Wednesday morning with a par on No. 15 at Ridgewood Country Club to earn the 63rd seed.

A few hours later, Von Lossow was back on the course and pulled off a big upset over co-medalist and second-seeded Michael Thorbjornsen.

“I thought I missed the short putt (Tuesday night) to miss the playoff, but my caddie had it all figured it out and had all the numbers right,” Von Lossow said. “I did a good job of not letting that affect me. I felt pretty confident in the playoff with 15 for 11 spots.

“My goal was to get into the top 64 and now I can actually make some noise. I feel like with my game I can compete. I finally made some putts, unlike the first two days. I hit a lot of good lag putts.”

Von Lossow won three straight holes to open the back nine, building a 3-up lead over Thorbjornsen, who is No. 6 in the world amateur rankings.

Von Lossow won No. 10 with a par and took the next two holes with birdies. He holed a lengthy bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 11th.

“It was a longer bunker shot, slope going away from me but I had a good lie,” Von Lossow said. “Walking down, we saw the TV cameras. I felt like, ‘it’s time to hole this out’ and I kind of spoke it into existence. It was going to be a really good shot even if it didn’t go in.”

Both players made pars on 13, 14 and 15 before Von Lossow closed out an impressive 3 and 2 victory by draining a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 16.

Von Lossow played the last seven holes in 3 under. He won the third and fourth holes to go 2 up early, but Thorbjornsen fought back to tie it up with a birdie on No. 8.

The 34-year-old Von Lossow, who has lived in Spokane for about five years, will face 34th-seeded Ben Carr at 6:20 a.m. Thursday in the round of 32. Carr won eight straight holes and rolled past No. 31 Jake Holbrook 7 and 5. Holbrook is a rising junior at Oklahoma.

Von Lossow earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur by sharing first place with Canadian AJ Ewart at a July qualifier at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. Von Lossow, who played at Southwestern Oregon Community College, won the Spokane City Championship in 2018 and 2019. He tied for third at the 2022 Oregon Open and shared eighth at the Rosauers Open Invitational in July – two majors on the PGA Pacific Northwest Section circuit.

Thorbjornsen, an All-American at Stanford, had a two-shot lead before making a double bogey on No. 18 Tuesday at Arcola Country Club and falling into a four-way tie at 3-under 138 in stroke-play qualifying. He played in the U.S. Open and placed fourth at the PGA Tour Travelers Championship in June.

Washington State’s Preston Bebich (77-77) didn’t qualify for match play.