Stuart Grehan began his Amateur Championship bid with a two-under 70 to sit three shots off the lead after day one of stroke play qualifying at West Lancashire.
Grehan opened in fine style with a birdie at the par-3 3rd before reaching the summit with an eagle on the par-5 5th. The 33-year-old added birdies on the 11th and 16th but did drop shots on 14, 15 and 18.
Last year’s Walker Cup star has been in fine form as he looks to cement a return for GB&I in Lahinch this September with finishes of sixth at the Lytham Trophy, third at the Irish Amateur and of course a stunning home win at the East of Ireland.
2023 Walker Cup player Matthew McClean is a shot further back on one-under after a 71 which was also at West Lancashire while Keith Egan and Gavin Tiernan are just inside the top-64 cut which will fall tomorrow for the matchplay after level-par 72s West Lancs and Royal Liverpool respectively.
Caolan Rafferty struggled after a hot start where he was two-under through three and was forced to settle for a one-over 73 at West Lancashire. Jake Foley is at plus two while Thomas Higgins is alongside first reserve Gavin O’Neill and Colm Campbell at three-over.
At the top, Henry Styles revelled in a return to one of his happy hunting grounds as he set the early pace with a five-under 67.
Styles was part of the GB&I side that won the Jacques Leglise Trophy at West Lancashire in 2024 while his victory in last year’s English Amateur Championship came on the same Royal Liverpool course where he tees-up for his second qualifying round on Tuesday.
“It’s always good when you go back to places where you’ve had success,” said Styles.
“It does give you a spring in the step and you feed off the good vibes. “I have great memories of this area and hopefully I can create some more this week.”
Styles initially missed out on a place in the Championship at Pre-Qualifying, but he was a late call-up from the reserve list and seized his opportunity. The Englishman burst out of the blocks at West Lancashire and covered his opening 11-holes in six-under to stamp his authority on the leaderboard.
Scoring HERE
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