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The Amateur
Fang and Tiernan reach Final of The Amateur Championship
20 Jun 25
Long Read
Ethan Fang of the United States of America and Ireland’s Gavin Tiernan will meet in the 36-hole Final of The 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.
After starting the week with 288 players in the field, Fang and Tiernan are the final two golfers remaining in the prestigious championship, winning their quarter-final and semi-final matches on the sunny Sandwich Bay coast on Friday. Fang, ranked seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), is looking to become the first American since Drew Weaver in 2007 to lift the coveted trophy, while Tiernan, who sits 1333 places further down the WAGR®, is the first player to come through Pre-Qualifying to reach the Final. The American secured his place in Saturday's showdown in emphatic fashion, comfortably defeating Finland’s Veikka Viskari 5&4 in the afternoon following victory over France’s Callixte Alzas in the morning, where he overcame a two-down deficit to win by as many.
Ethan Fang made it to the final of The 130th Amateur Championship.
Fang took full command of his afternoon match, claiming the lead on the 3rd hole and never relinquishing it. The Oklahoma State University student, who has his childhood friend on his bag, won the 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th holes to win the match on the 14th hole and reach the Final in his first trip to Europe.
“I think each day as I win a match, it gets that much closer to what the whole Championship is. It's just really hard not to (think about the champion’s exemptions), especially because I'm 36 holes away from it. I just try to stay present and just do everything I've been doing.
“The Championship is not over, but I think after tomorrow we'll celebrate either way because it's been a good week.
“I took a pretty long look on that board over there with the trophies and all those names. I saw Sergio (Garcia) won it. It's cool to see all those professional players come out here and win it, and now I'm doing the same thing, and hopefully have their accomplishments on Tour.”
Tiernan has had a longer week than his American opponent, having played 139 holes to reach Saturday's Final.
The 19-year-old has been taken to the 18th hole in three of his matches this week, including Friday morning’s quarter-final against Estonia’s Richard Teder. Behind all the way, Tiernan managed to square the match with a well-timed birdie at the 16th before a bogey from Teder at the 18th hole allowed the Irishman to progress in the Championship.
However, he only needed 15 holes to win his semi-final match against Riccardo Fantinelli of Italy. After making the turn all-square in another tight tussle, Tiernan separated himself from his opponent with continued consistent play, winning the 10th, 12th, 14th, and 15th holes for a comfortable 4&3 victory.
Gavin Tiernan celebrates after winning his semi-final on Friday
“If you'd told me at the start of the week I'd be in the Final, I would have been over the moon. I'm just really enjoying it, taking it one shot at a time, and just having fun out there. That's all I'm trying to do.
“I hit it way better this afternoon. Off the tee I was way better. I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. I think this morning it was a little bit scrappier but this morning was tighter, as well. I wasn't up the whole match until 18 when I won.
“You don't need to go and make a ton of birdies. If you're hitting it to the middle of the green all the time, you're just going to bore them to death. That's what I've been trying to do this week, and it's worked so far.
“In my head, I'm the best player here. It might not be the truth, but that's what I believe. It doesn't really matter who I'm playing against. Really I'm just playing against the golf course. Playing against myself really.”
Fang and Tiernan will go head-to-head in the 36-hole Final from 8.32 am on Saturday, playing for the Amateur Champion title and entries into The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, the US Open and, by tradition, an invitation to compete at the Masters Tournament. In addition to three major championships, the champion will also earn a place in the field at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo on the DP World Tour.
Spectators are welcome and can attend free of charge. For those following along at home, The R&A will provide live broadcast coverage of the 36-hole Final. Fans in the UK can watch all the action live on Sky Sports, while livestreams are available globally on R&A TV and on The R&A’s YouTube channel.