Sugrue blitzes Baltray; Caps for Murphy and Yates
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND - JUNE 20: James Sugrue of Mallow plays his tee shot to the 14th hole during the third day of The Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen on June 20, 2018 in Aberdeen, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Mallow amateur James Sugrue will have a chance to clinch a dream ticket to play in The Open at Carnoustie after he blasted an immaculate eight-under par 64 to win one of 13 Local Qualifying events by four strokes at a sun-kissed County Louth.
The reigning South of Ireland champion (21) birdied the first, second, sixth, ninth, 11th, 12th, 16th and 18th to win one of seven spots on offer at Baltray, where Rathmore amateur Ben Best and professionals Peter Williamson, Shane Franklin and Brendan McCarroll also qualified with four-under 68s.
"I played really solid," said Sugrue, whose ambition this year is win another championship and make the Irish team. "I hit 18 greens, had 29 putts and didn't do much wrong.
"The highlight wasn't actually a birdie but the five-iron I hit to around seven feet at the 17th. I missed the putt but it was my favourite shot of the day.
"I love watching The Open and I like the way the R&A runs events. If I were to qualify for a major it would be incredible."
Three players shot 69s and played off for the last two spots but after South African Robert Braithwaite took the first of them with a miraculous par four at the first extra hole after driving into ferns, Sweden’s Andreas Tancred claimed the other when Naas’ Conor O’Rourke three-putted the fourth extra hole (the first).
Sugrue will tee it up in Final Qualifying at one of four UK venues on July 3 — Notts (Hollinwell), Prince’s, St Annes Old Links or The Renaissance Club – with three spots in The Open on offer at each.
He's got other business to handle before that as one of six amateurs nominated by the GUI to tee it up in this weekend's inaugural, 36-hole Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Qualifier at Rosapenna's Sandy Hills Links, where a 130-strong field will battle for four spots at Ballyliffin.
Irish players were in action at six of the 13 qualifiers for The Open across Ireland and the UK with Mount Juliet’s Kevin Phelan missing out by a shot after a one-under 71 at Minchampton.
Killiney’s Eoin Leonard also missed out by the minimum after a 75 at Fairhaven
Murphy and Yates capped for European Team Championships
Kinsale’s John Murphy and Jonathan Yates from Naas are the two new caps in the Ireland side selected for the European Men's Amateur Team Championship at Golf Club Bad Saarow near Berlin from July 10-14 with Portmarnock's Conor Purcell missing out despite his great run to the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship
Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty and Rowan Lester from Hermitage are playing the Europeans for the first time while Tramore’s Robin Dawson (22), winner of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open and runner-up at the Amateur Championship, is the sole survivor from last year’s team with Castle’s Alex Gleeson (24) returning to the side for the second time since 2016.
Dawson and Gleeson earned automatic selection on the team by virtue of being the top two ranked Irish players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).
Dawson is currently 35th in the world and Gleeson is at 113. The GUI introduced selection criteria for the men’s senior teams at the start of 2018 as part of the Union’s strategy to be more open and transparent in its operations while the GUI’s High Performance programme is supported by Sport Ireland and Sport NI.
Rafferty (25) and Lester (22) tasted success at the Home Internationals in 2017. Playing for Ireland at this level will be a whole new experience for Murphy and Yates.
Murphy, 20, has been a revelation this summer. After winning the St Andrews Links Trophy earlier this month, he reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship, and will now wear the green colours. The Cork man represented Ireland at the Boys Home Internationals in 2016.
Yates, 25, wins his first Ireland cap after a stellar season that has included impressive performances at St Andrews Links Trophy (T11), Jyske Bank PGA Championship (T20) in the Nordic Golf League and Copa de Andalucía (T6). He represented the GUI in the 2017 Carey Cup against the Metropolitan Golf Association (MGA).
Ireland finished seventh in Flight A at last year’s championship in Austria having been fifth in qualifying. Once more the first objective will be securing a place in the top eight after two rounds of stroke play on the Faldo Course at Bad Saarow. The top eight teams, after qualifying, will compete for the trophy across three days of match play competition. Ireland last won the European title in 2008.
The Faldo Course at Golf Club Bad Saarow in Berlin officially opened in 1996 and has previously hosted the German Open and the World Amateur Team Championship.
Team captain John Carroll (Bandon) will be joined by team manager Michael Delany (Laytown & Bettystown) and GUI National Coach Neil Manchip to guide the team in Germany. Spain are the defending champions.
Ireland have been victorious on six previous occasions: 1965, 1967, 1983, 1987, 2007 and 2008. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry played on the winning team at Scotland in ’07 and Lowry played again, at Italy in ’08, when Ireland completed the double.
Ireland (European Amateur Team Championship, Golf Club Bad Saarow, 10-14 July): Robin Dawson (Tramore), Alex Gleeson (Castle), Rowan Lester (Hermitage), John Murphy (Kinsale), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Jonathan Yates (Naas).
