Mark Power breezed through to the matchplay stages of the 122nd US Amateur Championship at Ridgewood Country Club.
Power, the only Irishman in the field posted a two-under 68 on the Arcona Course in round two after an opening two-over 73 in Ridgewood Country Club to qualify on level-par and in a share of 9th place.
Ireland’s highest ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings carded four birdies and an eagle in round two as he qualified at his ease, five shots clear of the cut mark and just three adrift of the leading qualifiers.
The Kilkenny man started steadily with three opening pars before landing his first blow with a birdie on the 4th. That was cancelled out by a bogey on 7 but the 22-year-old roared up the leaderboard with an eagle on the par-5 9th to turn in 33.
Power carded just three pars in a rollercoaster back nine that saw a dropped shot on 11 followed by a brace of birdies.
Bogeys on 15 and 16 followed including flirting with disaster on the latter after finding a native area over the back of the green where he could only hack out.
A birdie on 17 rubberstamped the Wake Forest student’s passage into the last-64 on Wednesday in what has been an excellent debut showing so far.
Power is one of three Irish representatives on the Eisenhower Trophy side that also includes fellow St Andrews Trophy teammates Rob Moran and Matt McClean.
The WAGR 87 player might take some inspiration from Annabel Wilson who reached the semi-final of the US Women’s Amateur last week.
Ireland hasn’t had a man in the last four since JB Carr in 1961 with Paul Dunne coming the closest before losing 3&2 to eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau in the 2015 quarter-final in Olympia Fields.
Dunne, like Power, was a debutant that week.
The leading qualifiers are Brazil’s Fred Biondi, Luke Gutcshewski, Sweden’s Hugo Townsend and Michael Thorbjornsen who finished 4th at the Travellers Championsip earlier this year.
Scoring HERE
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