Gavin Tiernan edged out Scotland’s Niall Shiels Donegan on the 18th hole to book his spot in the last-32 of the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.
The County Louth star came from two down after twelve holes and one down after 15 to win the 17th and 18th and he will be Ireland’s last hope in the knockout stages after Stuart Grehan and Joshua Hill were beaten in their last-64 ties.
Tiernan will face Belgium’s Jarno Tollenaire on Thursday morning as he looks to keep his debut going.
The 19-year-old pre-qualified and was the leading Irishman after the 36-hole stroke play which was also played at Royal Cinque Ports.
While there was late delight for Tiernan, it was a disappointing day for the Irish overall and it’s been another underwhelming performance at the Amateur Championship.
County Louth’s Grehan was beaten 4&2 by Mexico’s Rodrigo Vazquez while Galgorm Castle’s Hill lost out 3&2 to Canada’s Ibit Isaiah.
Eighteen Irish players began the week and this is the second successive year that only one player has advanced to the last-32.
Three players advanced through the stroke play qualifying on Tuesday night – one more than twelve months ago – while Keith Egan lost out in a 24-man playoff for five spots in the matchplay rounds on Wednesday morning.
Leading qualifier Connor Graham needed 21-holes to shake off the challenge of Larsen Mads Viermose of Denmark while Dominic Clemons was 2&1 winner over Estonia’s Varjun Mattias.
Scoring HERE
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