The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scots’ dream dies as trio eliminated
Scottish interest in the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship was ended by lunchtime yesterday at Carnoustie with the remaining home trio knocked out at the last 32 stage.
Blairgowrie’s Cormac Sharpe, Ross Laird (Glenbervie) and national champion Oliver Mukherjee of Gullane were the last survivors of a group of 17 that started qualifying at Panmure and Monifieth on Monday.
Six reached the matchplay stages at Carnoustie, but Sharpe’s 3 and 1 loss in a fluctuating battle with Wales’ Joe Jones ended home hopes of a first Scottish winner since 2013. That champion was Ewen Ferguson, coincidentally leading the DP World Tour event in Ireland last night.
Sharpe and Jones each had the lead at various points during their morning battle but the Welshman edged ahead as they turned into the home stretch.
Laird, a handsome winner in the first round, had a tight battle with the impressive Swede Didrik Ringvall Bergsson, and was only edged on the final green.
Oliver Mukherjee’s run of 10 successive singles match wins was abruptly ended by the leading qualifier from Spain, Jorge Siyuan Hao.
The highest ranked player in the field, Siyuan Hao, has five wins this year. He was only just edged out into second when defending his European Young Masters title in Finland two weeks.
He accounted for 16-yearold Mukherjee with a comfortable 4 and 3 victory.
However, the Spaniard had a real scrap in the last 16 against Kent’s Jack Lee, who had defeated Ian Poulter’s son Luke and the German Tom Haberer in the first two rounds.
Lee never led but refused to budge, coming back from two-down by the turn and threatening again as Siyuan Hao began to show signs of fatigue late on.
The Dartford golfer fashioned a courageous half in five on 15 after his second shot went long and left, almost hitting the first green marker pole. But he missed putts for par on 16 and 18, although he won 17, allowed Siyuan Hao to go through one-up.
“I feel that I made a few mistakes on the last holes, maybe strategy mistakes,” said the Spaniard. “But I think the key was to be patient and to keep my concentration level.
“It’s always tough to finish off a match but it’s something you just have to do. I guess every match is going to be like that from now on. There is a very high level here, so I have just got to try to do my best.”
Siyuan Hao now meets France’s Louis Arcenaux in the quarter-finals. Arcenaux defeated another member of the Spanish team, Jaime Motojo Fernandez, is the last 16.
The quarter-final line-up is filled out by two Swedes – Ringvall Bergsson and Albert Hansson – Wales’ Caolan Burford, Italy’s Eugenio Bernardi and two English players, Kris Kim and Morgan Blythe.
In the Girls’ Championship, England dominate with four of the quarter-finalists – Amelia Wan, Lottie Woad, Rachel Gourlay and Ellise Rymer. Only one of the 20-strong Spanish girls’ team has made the last eight in Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggia.
Wales’ Emily James, Nathalie Borg of Sweden and Thailand’s impressive Eila Galitsky complete the line-up.