Latest news with #130thAmateurChampionship
Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Gavin Tiernan to face Ethan Fang in the 130th Amateur Championship final
Gavin Tiernan will take on Ethan Fang from the United States in the 36-hole final of the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George on Saturday. Tiernan and Fang are the final two left standing out of a field of 288 players in the prestigious championship winning their quarter-final and semi-final matches at a sunny Sandwich Bay today. Fang is ranked seventh in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and is looking to become the first American since Drew Weaver in 2007 to lift the coveted trophy. Tiernan sits 1333 places futher down the WAGR and is the first player that came through the pre-qualifying to reach the final. Tiernan had a longer week than his American counterpart having played 139-holes to reach the final. The 19 year old has been taken to the 18th hole in all three of his matches this week including his quarter-final this morning against Estonia's Richard Teder. Tiernan was behind throughout and managed to square the match with a well-timed birdie at the 16th before a bogey from Teder on the 18th allowed Tiernan to progress in the Championship. Tiernan only needed 15 holes to win his semi-final match against Italy's Riccardo Fantinelli this afternoon. It was all square at the turen before Tiernan pulled away with consistent play on the 10th, 12th, 14th, and 15th holes for a comfortable 4&3 win. Speaking after reaching the final Tiernan said '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 take 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 had a comfortable route to the final with a 5&4 win over Finland's Veikka Viskari in the semi-final following his morning win over France's Callixte Alzas twhere he overcame a two-down deficit to win by as many. FINAL BOOKED: Ethan Fang of USA tees off during the Quarter Finals on Day Five of The Amateur Championship at Royal St. George's Golf Club on June 20, 2025 in Sandwich, England. Pic: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images Fang is looking forward to taking on Tiernan in the final. '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'll just try to stay present and just do everything I've been doing. 'I took a pretty long look on that board over there with the trophies and all those names. I saw Sergio 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. 'The Championship is not over, but I think after tomorrow we'll celebrate either way because it's been a good week." Tiernan and Fang will go head-to-head in the 36-hole final at 8.32am playing for the Amateur Champion title and entry to the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, the US Open and by tradition an invitation to the Masters Tournament. The winner will also earn a place at the Betfred British Masters which Nick Faldo hosts on the DP World Tour.
RTÉ News
17 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Gavin Tiernan on cusp of glory after semi-final win at Amateur Championship
Gavin Tiernan from the County Louth club in Baltray is just one match away from the Amateur Championship title at Royal St Georges in Kent. The 19-year old Tiernan is ranked outside the top 1000 male amateur golfers in the world at 1340th. This afternoon, in breezy conditions, Tiernan easily defeated Riccardo Fantinelli of Italy (ranked more than 1000 places above him) in the semi final by 4&3. The second Finalist of the 130th Amateur Championship, Gavin Tiernan 🏌️♂️ — The R&A (@RandA) June 20, 2025 The winner tomorrow gets invitation to the Open next month in Royal Portrush and also the 2026 Masters and US Open along with one of the most coveted titles in men's amateur golf worldwide. Tiernan will play the World No 7 ranked player Ethan Fang of the United States in a 36-hole final starting just after 8.30 tomorrow morning. The last Irish winner was James Sugrue of Mallow in 2019. He won the title at Portmarnock when ranked 232nd in the world. Tiernan is seeking to become the ninth Irish winner of the Amateur Championship, with Jimmy Bruen the first back in 1946.
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Connor Graham comes through 'stressful' match in Amateur Championship
Leading qualifier wins at 21st hole after delay to his opening match in Kent Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Blairgowrie's Connor Graham, the leading qualifier for the second year in a row, survived a 'stressful' opening contest in the match-play phase of the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George's in Kent. The 19-year-old, who shot a six-under-par 64 at The Open venue on Tuesday to secure the top seeding once again in The R&A event, shook off Dane Mads Viemose Larsen at the 21st after what could have been an unsettling start to his day. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Graham, the 2022 Junior Open champion and a member of Europe's winning side in the Junior Ryder Cup in Rome the following year, had been due to tee-off at 9.30am but didn't step on the first tee until 10.40am after having to wait to find out who he would actually be up against in the round of 64. Leading qualifier Connor Graham won at the 21st in the round of 64 at Royal St George's in Kent | The R&A That's because no less than 24 players found themselves in a play-off on Wednesday morning for the final five spots, with Larsen eventually prevailing along with Filippo Ponzano, Gaven Lane, Stijn Egging and Rintaro Nakano. Once finally underway, Graham found himself behind early on before getting his nose in front on the back nine only to then find himself playing extra holes after losing the par-4 18th. 'Yeah, it was a very stressful round out there,' admitted the youngest-ever player to compete in a Walker Cup. 'It was pretty tight the whole way and, thankfully, I birdied the third extra hole to win it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I didn't feel too much extra pressure, but I knew he was going to come out and try and beat me, so I needed to kind of bring some good golf.' He'll need that, too, when he faces American Ethan Fang, who sits seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking while his opponent is 48th, in the last 32 on Thursday morning. 'Nothing too major,' said Graham, who has just completed his freshman year at Texas Tech, of what he can learn from being in the same position as 12 months ago but failing to make it to the latter stages of the knock-out phase. 'Just knowing I'm playing good golf and I can beat anyone on my day.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad No matter what happens for the rest of the summer, Graham now looks an absolute certainty for Dean Robeertson's Great Britain & Ireland team for the Walker Cup at Cypress Point in September. Nonetheless, the Scot will be giving it his all to try and become the first Scot to land this title since his fellow Blairgowrie man, Bradley Neil, did the trick, at Royal Portrush in 2014. 'It would mean a lot,' admitted Graham with a smile. 'It is such a big event, and I always look forward to this event, so it would definitely be a bonus having a good week.'
