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The Amateur
Top seeds survive opening round matches at The 130th Amateur Championship
18 Jun 25
Long Read
The first round of match play provided plenty of drama today at Royal St George's as Connor Graham, Tommy Morrison, Ethan Fang and Dominic Clemons all progressed to the last-32 at The 130th Amateur Championship.
Back-to-back medalist Graham needed three extra holes in his opening match, Morrison went to the 23rd hole in his opening tie, while other top contenders Fang and Clemons held off their opponents in tightly contested matches. The day began with 24 players in a play-off to determine the final five places in the match play stage of the Championship where Mads Viemose Larsen of Denmark birdied the first play-off hole to set up his match against Connor Graham, the leading qualifier. In a match that ebbed and flowed, Graham, the 18-year-old Texas Tech University student, was one-down through nine holes. Playing his way back into the match, Graham was a hole clear by the 15th, but gave up his advantage with an errant approach into the final hole. A bogey from the young Scot sent the pair to extra holes. It took Graham until the 21st hole to defeat Viemose Larsen with a birdie at the 198-yard par-3 3rd hole to book his place in the next round against Fang. Graham said, “It was a very stressful round out there. It was pretty tight the whole way and then one-up with one to go. I lost that one so it went to extra holes and thankfully I birdied the third extra hole to win it. “It is such a big Championship and I always look forward to it every year, so it would definitely be a bonus having a good week.”
Connor Graham won his opening match at The Amateur Championship.
American Fang, the seventh ranked amateur on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), faced a tight tussle his opening match with England’s Jamie Van Wyk.
The Oklahoma State University student found himself in trouble early with Van Wyk holding a three-hole advantage after the opening nine holes. However, Fang was able to switch the momentum back in his favour with a birdie on the 11th hole. A further three birdies saw Fang secure a one-hole win in his first trip to Europe.
Fang said, "It feels really good. Jamie got hot pretty early. I think he made three birdies in four holes, so I was a couple down. He was just playing really good. I was three-down through ten and I knew if I just stayed in it and got some momentum, I'd have a chance at the match.
“Honestly, it's my first time in Europe in general, so coming over here to England it's pretty cool. It's a lot different to back home but I’ve got used to it and links golf is amazing.”
Fang’s compatriots, Morrison and Luke Sample went head-to-head in the longest match of the day. The American duo needing five extra holes before Morrison emerged the victor.
Morrison was two-up with three holes to play, before Sample birdied the 16th and 17th holes to square the match. Retaining his composure, Morrison holed a 15-foot par putt to ensure they went to extra holes.
The pair couldn’t be separated, trading pars for four additional holes, but Morrison finally sealed the win on the 23rd hole after Sample’s tee shot went wayward.
Last year’s silver medalist Dominic Clemons held off a fast-finishing Mattias Varjun of Estonia to keep his dream of going one place better alive.
Dominic Clemons is through to the next round.
The Englishman held the early advantage and was three-up after the first nine holes. However, Varjun mounted a comeback with some well-timed birdies, but it wasn’t enough as Clemons prevailed 2&1.
He said, "I started well. I got up early and kind of just hung on. If it wasn't for the first few holes, I would have made it pretty hard for myself.
"Last year was obviously a good experience, a lot of fun. But you know, it's all the same; it's a new year. Just go again, round by round, try and win each game.
“It's probably the most fun Championship out there. Obviously 36 holes and then straight into match play. We don't get to play that too often. It's a fun week.”
The Championship, first hosted at Hoylake in 1885, boasts an impressive list of former champions including Sir Michael Bonallack, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and, more recently, Aldrich Potgieter.
The winner of this year’s Championship gains entry to The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, the US Open and, by tradition, will earn an invitation to compete at the Masters Tournament. In addition to three major championships, they 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 quarter-finals and semi-finals on Friday 20 June and the 36-hole Final on Saturday 21 June. 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.