Stuart Grehan, Keith Egan and Matthew McClean are all safely through to the knockout stages of the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool and West Lancashire, but Gavin Tiernan will have to survive a 21-for-10 playoff if he’s to have a chance of emulating his impressive run last year at Royal St Georges.
Grehan finished as leading Irishman in the 36-hole strokeplay section, following his opening two-under at West Lancashire with a three-under 69 at Royal Liverpool, and a mouthwatering tie awaits the County Louth man as he squares off against England’s Eliot Baker.
The duo were Walker Cup teammates and played together in both foursomes sessions at Cypress Point last year, but all friendship goes out the window in the round of 64.
Egan, who shot level-par at West Lancashire, produced the low-round of the day from an Irish perspective as, after a level-par 71 at West Lancashire, he went round Royal Liverpool in a four-under 68 to take the 33rd seed and the Carton House man now squares off against South African Stefan Jacobs.
McClean dropped a shot on Royal Liverpool’s par-5 16th but the Malone man and former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion ground out two closing pars to card a round of 70 and qualify on three-under where he faces Germany’s Wolfgang Glawe, making it at least three Irishmen who enter the knockout stages.
Tiernan has a chance to make it four, but to do so he must navigate a 21-for-10 sudden-death playoff on Wednesday morning. The County Louth man shot a level-par opener, followed by a two-under 70 at West Lancashire and he joins the likes of Luke Poulter, Noah Kent and Tim Wiedemeyer for a 7:00 am start to complete the 64.
Thomas Higgins was the most unfortunate of those who missed out. The Roscommon man shot a four-under 68 at West Lancashire after opening with a three-over 75 at Royal Liverpool, but he bogeyed his final two holes and had to face a long wait before it was confirmed that he’d miss out on the playoff by a single stroke.
It was a bittersweet day for Jake Foley who made a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole but finished the 36 holes at one-over, while Gavin O’Neill, Caolan Rafferty, Colm Campbell, Joshua Hill, William O’Riordan, Jonathan Keane, Sean Keeling and Jack Murphy also missed out.
Sweden’s Wilhelm Ryding finished as leading qualifier and takes the number one seed into the knockout stages.
After an opening four-under-par 68 at Royal Liverpool, which left him just one shot off the pace, Ryding fortified his position and moved to the summit with a five-under-par 67 at West Lancashire.
The 21-year-old’s nine-under-par aggregate left him a stroke clear of his compatriot, Edwin Askerfors, and the English trio of Ben Bolton, Edward Featherstone and Joshua McCartain.
Ryding became the first Swede to win the stroke play qualifying phase since Daniel Jennevret triumphed at Royal Troon in 2012.
“The key to success has been playing smart,” he said. “I’ve not hit a lot of drivers. I’ve mostly been hitting 2-irons off the tee just to avoid the bunkers. I think I’ve been in only one bunker and that was a greenside bunker.
“In this type of golf, if you hit all the fairways then you’ll have plenty of opportunities. I’ve been good out of the rough when I did miss a fairway and my putting has been good. It’s all added up to a good couple of days. I’m just going to stick to my game and believe in myself.”
Scotland’s Connor Graham, who topped the qualifying standings in both 2025 and 2024, comfortably progressed on a five-under-par total after a 67 at Royal Liverpool, with Niall Sheils Donegan, another Walker Cup teammate of Grehan, Graham and Eliot, also made his way through.
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