Gavin Tiernan, the 19-year-old Co Louth player, will aim to become a history-maker and also earn places in next month’s 153rd Open and next year’s Masters tournament after reaching the final of the Amateur Championship at Royal St Georges in Sandwich, England.
Tiernan, the first player to reach the final after coming through the stroke play pre-qualifying, has played 139 holes so far this week in reaching the final where world amateur number seven Ethan Fang of the United States provides the opposition.
After defeating Estonia’s Richard Teder in the quarter-final, his third time to close the deal on the 18th hole, Tiernan returned to the links in the afternoon to defeat Italy’s Riccardo Fantinelli where, having turned for home level, the he won the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes for a 4 and 3 win.
Fang, a student at the University of Oklahoma, is aiming to become the first American winner of the Amateur since Drew Weaver in 2007, while Tiernan is looking to become the first Irish winner since James Sugrue won at Portmarnock in 2019.
Co Louth’s Gavin Tiernan defeated in Amateur Championship final on last hole
Gavin Tiernan aims to make history after reaching Amateur Championship final
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Tiernan – 1,340th in the world amateur rankings – has played more golf than anyone, reaching the final from an original field of 288 players and taking a superbly positive attitude into each match: “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,” Tiernan said.
“You don’t need to go and take a tonne 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.”
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry struggled to a second round 73, which included three successive bogeys from the 10th to the 13th, to reach the midpoint of the Travelers championship at TPC River Highlands on five over 145, close to the tail end of the field.
In the Blot Play9 tournament in France on the HotelPlanner Tour (formerly the Challenge Tour), Dubliner Max Kennedy followed up his opening 60 with a 76 to reach the halfway stage on 136 in tied-third, six shots behind leader James Morrison.
