Stuart Grehan and Matthew McClean marched on to the last-32 of the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool and both could meet each other tomorrow afternoon.
Should both players overcome the challenges of Ioan Rowe and Sergio Jimenez Romero respectively then they would face each other in the afternoon last-16 ties.
Grehan already knows the uneasiness of facing a friend and teammate having played Walker Cup with Eliot Baker last September before he dispatched of the Englishman 3&2 on Wednesday. It was a clinical display from the East of Ireland champion who was six-under for the sixteen holes and that’s hard to beat.
“I know Eliot so well, and we’ve played so much golf together, so I knew it was going to be a really tough game,” Grehan said.
“We both spoke about playing each other last night. It is a bit of a shame. But, look, you’re always going to come across someone you’ve played with before during the week. It is what it is.
“I played really well. I was maybe five or six-under par so I’m pretty pleased with my day’s work.”
McClean, a 2023 Walker Cup star was a narrow 2&1 victor over Germany’s Wolfgang Glawe while Keith Egan bowed out in heartbreaking circumstances on the 20th to South African Stefan Jacobs.
Meanwhile, Guus Lafeber emerged from a tense tussle with Walker Cup player Connor Graham to book a place in the second round and keep alive his hopes of an Amateur and Boys Amateur double.
Over the storied Hoylake links which played host to the inaugural staging of the event in 1885, the young Dutchman held his nerve and won on the 19th hole of a fascinating match play duel with his Scottish opponent. Lafeber was never behind in a nip and tuck encounter but the 18-year-old had to go the full distance and more before he eventually staved off Graham’s spirited resistance.
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