Maguire reaches last eight at Amateur Championship after 23rd hole drama
Alex Maguire is into the quarter-finals of The 128th Amateur Championship. Picture: The R&A.
Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire reached the quarter-finals of The 128th Amateur Championship at Hillside after a thrilling victory at the 23rd hole against Daniel Rodrigues from Portugal.
On a dramatic day of last-32 and last-16 ties on the fast-running links, Maguire maintained his title hopes with a notable win. After bunker troubles at the 17th looked to have ended his hopes, the 22-year-old battled back from the brink of defeat to prevail at the fifth extra hole. Maguire, a semi-finalist at Royal Lytham & St Annes 12 months ago, has continued the form that saw him win the St Andrews Links Trophy recently.
“I could feel my legs sort of caving in on me on the par-3 there just before the finish, so the 22nd hole,” Maguire said. “It was an absolutely amazing match. Daniel played so good and I matched him on a lot of holes. It really could have gone any way but lovely for myself it went my way.
“I don't think I'm going to try to change what I'm doing just because I'm playing well. It's all to do with just staying in the moment and committing to the process that you have for each shot.”
As for his win on the fifth extra hole, he said: “So down 5, it's sort of an awkward number for me. That bunker on the right is 300 and the next one is 330, so I decided I'll hit 2-iron in the morning. I hit 2-iron and it was great, and it went like 320 in the afternoon; I had the adrenaline coming, and it being firm.
I had 247, the exact number I had in the morning. I hit 4-iron just over the back, and it was more downwind, so I knew it was the perfect club. I hit 4-iron to like 20 feet, and obviously Daniel didn't get out of the bunker, so I knew all I had to do was two-putt, and that's what I did.
He beat Belgium’s Jarno Tollenaire 2&1 in the morning as Marc Boucher beat South Africa’s Tyran Snyders 2&1 but Caolan Rafferty fell 2&1 to Thailand’s TK Chantananuwat.
“It feels like I played 100,” Maguire said of his 40-hole day. “I feel very tired at this moment. A lot of holes.”
He added: “Yeah, recovery is a big thing. It's all about staying off your feet. Luckily the Nando's across from our hotel isn't too far away. It's only probably 30 steps. If you play great, you play as many holes as you want because if it's a great match like it was today, none of us were giving an inch at all. We were around to play as many holes as it needed to be.
“Yeah, like you can come out here and you can play 30 holes, you could play 15 and 15 and win comfortably or you can go the long way like I did.
I'm going to put my feet up now and maybe see if the physio is in there and get a rub down and use some compression boots to sort out my legs a little bit.”
Estonian teenager Richard Teder continued his dream week at Hillside to reach the last-eight. The 18-year-old, who had earlier knocked out last year’s semi-finalist and the top-ranked Great Britain and Ireland player John Gough by one hole, came through a high-quality match with American Tommy Morrison. The pair shared ten birdies in the opening 11 holes of their last-16 tussle before Teder finally edged out the Texan at the first extra hole.
South African Christo Lamprecht, the highest-ranked player in the field, maintained his form to reach the quarter-finals. The 22-year-old, sixth on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) and recently a competitor in the Arnold Palmer Cup, came through 2&1 against Sweden’s Adam Wallin as he aims to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner from South Africa, Aldrich Potgieter.
England’s Frank Kennedy holed his second shot at the 14th for an eagle en route to his narrow last-16 win over Boucher.
The 17-year-old, who won the Lytham Trophy in April, boosted hopes of a home win by edging through on the 18th thanks to also recording five birdies.
“Yeah, I obviously thought the putt was a little slower than I anticipated so I hit it probably nine feet by and then missed my putt for par and then standing and watching while he's got the putt to take it to extra holes was definitely stressful,” Kennedy said of his one-hole win over the Carton House man.
Switzerland’s Max Schliesing was the first player to secure his place in tomorrow’s matches, defeating Wales’ Caolan Burford 3&2 after two birdies in the opening five holes.
His compatriot, Ronan Kleu, is also into the last-eight as both aim to become the first Swiss player to claim The Amateur title. Kleu, who finished in a tie for second in stroke play qualifying, achieved a comfortable 5&3 win over Frenchman Clement Charmasson.
Thailand’s TK Chantananuwat – the 16-year-old who was runner-up in the R&A Junior Open last summer - also shone in England’s north-west. After beating Ireland’s Caolan Rafferty 2&1 in the morning, he progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3&2 success over England’s William Hopkins.
Tobias Jonsson from Sweden is into the last-eight after ousting Joshua Greer 2&1. Greer had earlier won an all-Australian meeting against Jasper Stubbs and was aiming to emulate compatriot Bryden Macpherson, the last winner of The Amateur at Hillside in 2011, but birdies at the 12th and 14th helped Jonsson through.
The winner of Saturday’s 36-hole Final will secure exemptions into The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool next month, the US Open, and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. Notable previous winners of The Amateur include Bobby Jones, Sir Michael Bonallack, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.
