Full house: all five Irish progress at Amateur Championship
All five of Ireland’s qualifiers successfully made it through their opening matches and into the last 32 of the Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen.
Mallow’s James Sugrue, the South of Ireland champion, had to sweat more than the rest but with last year’s leading qualifier Caolan Rafferty on the bag, the Cork golfer took advantage made a winning par at the 19th where Australian Michael Kyle drove out of bounds.
St Andrews squad member Robin Dawson, the Irish Amateur Open winner, followed him through with a 4&2 win over David Ravetto from France as Kinsale’s St Andrews Links Trophy winner John Murphy, Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell and Hermitage’s Rowan Lester also progressed to Thursday’s third round.
Lester best David Hague 6&5, Purcell defeated Spain’s Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero Torres 2&1 while Murphy was a 4&2 winner over England’s Oliver Farrell.
Lester now faces Ben Hutchinson with Purcell taking on Walker Cup player Matthew Jordan, the Lytham Trophy holder and world No 6.
World No 35 Dawson also has a high profile opponent in Spain’s Victor Pastor as Murphy meets Texan Walker Lee, who reached the round of 32 in last year’s US Amateur.
