Tiernan blocks out Masters dream to reach Amateur Championship quarter-finals
County Louth’s Gavin Tiernan used all his links experience to battle his way into the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.
The Baltray star (19), who had to come through pre-qualifying to win his place in the elite field, beat France’s Gaspar Glaudas 3&2 to take his place in the last eight.
“Yeah, very happy, obviously,” said Tiernan, who has just finished his first year at East Tennessee State University. “A little bit of relief, like match play, anything can happen.
“You could be a couple up with a couple to play, and you just never know. Just happy to get into the clubhouse and into the final eight.”
Tiernan, who beat Belgium’s Jarno Tollenaire by two holes in the second round the morning, will face Estonia’s Richard Teder in the quarter-finals. But he's not dreaming yet of winning the title and claiming a dream Masters start next year.
“No, I'm just taking it hole by hole, one shot at a time,” he said. “That's been my motto this week, just one shot at a time.
“No matter how the rest of the tournament goes, once I know that I gave it my all, I think that's all that really matters.”
He credited his Baltray background and his pace putting for his wins over the firm and fast Sandwich links.
“These greens are so undulating that there are a lot of difficult pin positions, so your pace putting needs to be dialled,” he said.
“Also iron play, you need to be very mindful of where you're hitting it on the greens because you could hit it on the green and be in a very tricky spot.
“So hitting it to certain parts of the greens. I feel like my distance control was very good, which I think are all keys to playing this or any golf course well.
“My home course, County Louth, is a links course. The Boys' Amateur is actually there in August. So I have a lot of experience playing on links. I definitely leaned on that coming down the stretch today.”
Having shot a five-under 67 to finish fourth in pre-qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports, Tiernan finished sixth in 36-hole qualifying on six under after rounds of 65 and 71 and is being careful to conserve energy.
“In the past, if the ball is not coming off right, I'd go and start hitting a load of balls,” he said. “But this week I was really vigilant, making sure I prioritised my rest and my hydration and stuff like that.
“I feel like that's the stuff when it comes down to the very end; that's what makes the difference, rather than hitting an extra 15 or 20 balls on the range.
“I feel like you don't get as much out of that as you do getting more rest or being hydrated.
“That's kind of the approach I've taken, and it's definitely benefited me so far.”
He also loves it the test.
“I really like it,” he said. “It kind of plays into my strengths. Like playing away from pins and stuff like that.
“I'd say a lot of the Americans, they're used to kind of target golf and stuff like that, where here you have to run it in or sometimes even leaving it short of a green is better than being above the hole on a green.
“I feel like that plays into my strengths, being able to hit it to middle of the greens and stay l patient with stuff like that.
“It's 100 per cent firmed up today. I've noticed a couple of shots, like short wedges that are releasing 20, 30 yards, even from the fairway.
“You have to change that up a little bit, but you just change your number a little bit. I'm used to it -- again, coming from links,
“I know how to do that, and I'm comfortable doing that. When you're 140 and you're hitting a lob wedge, it feels a bit weird, but I'm used to being able to trust that, and seeing it before and stuff like that definitely helped me this week.
Fang, the 20-year-old Oklahoma State student l, rallied in both matches to secure his place in the last eight after coming from three-down to beat top qualifier Connor Graham of Scotland on the 20th hole in the morning before defeating Milan Reed in convincing fashion this afternoon.
Fang, the seventh-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings® (WAGR®), started his day slowly against the in-form Graham, making three bogeys in his opening four holes to give his opponent a head start.
Finding himself two-down with two holes to play in a gusty south-easterly Sandwich Bay breeze, Fang recorded back-to-back birdies to take his match against an in-control Graham to extra holes.
His golfing pedigree was on full display in front of the many spectators who gathered to watch the grandstand finish, making another birdie on the 20th hole to seal his place in the final-16.
He rode the wave of momentum into his tie against Reed this afternoon, eventually defeating the Englishman 5&4.
Having made the last-eight at the US Amateur Championship in 2024, where he also eliminated the Medalist, he will now draw on that experience as he plays Callixte Alzas from France in the first of four quarter-final matches tomorrow.
France is well represented in the final eight with Matthis Lefevre continuing his positive play from the stroke play, defeating Junior Ryder Cup player Kris Kim by 2&1 this morning, before getting the better of South Africa’s Daniel Bennett by a 4&3 margin this afternoon.
Lefevre, who has made the match play in four of the last five years, faced a tough opponent in Kim, the pair trading the advantage four times in a tight tussle that eventually went the Frenchman’s way thanks to a birdie at the 16th hole followed by a concession from his opponent at the next.
The 24-year-old will now face Finland’s Veikka Viskari who easily disposed of Germany’s Laurenz Schiergen 5&4 in his opening tie of the day, before defeating Rintaro Nakano of Japan 3&2 in the afternoon to book his place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Billy Dowling has been quietly plotting his way around the famed St George’s links this week and feels his game is in a great place to go all the way.
The 20-year-old played near-perfect golf this morning, making four birdies and an eagle to comfortably win his tie against Rodrigo Vazques of Mexico 5&3. He then dropped just two shots in his 3&2 victory over Filippo Ponzano of Italy.
He’ll face another Italian in the quarter-final when he goes up against Riccardo Fantinelli who played his way into the last-eight with wins over Canadian Isaiah Ibit (3&2) and Germany’s Tim Wiedemeyer (3&1).
Teder of Estonia, who was also a quarter-finalist in 2023 but eliminated by the eventual champion, Christo Lamprecht of South Africa.
The 20-year-old finds himself back in the final-eight thanks to his win over Ugo Malcor of France, who took him to the 21st hole, and his 3&2 victory against American Ben Gregg.
The Amateur Championship, Royal St George’s
Quarter finals
Ethan Fang (USA) v Callixte Alzas (FRA);
Matthias Lefevre (FRA) v Veikka Viskari (FIN);
Billy Dowling (AUS) v Riccardo Fantinelli (ITA);
Richard Teder (EST) v Gavin Tiernan (Co. Louth).
