English Golf Union Press Release
TOP SEED BOYD AND MOUL EARLY CASUALTIES
IN MATCH-PLAY STAGES AT ROYAL ST GEORGE'S
There were shocks aplenty when the English men's amateur championship entered the match play stage at Royal St George’s today with internationals Gary Boyd and Jamie Moul being early casualties.
Both players are Walker Cup candidates but Boyd went out at the 19th to Michael Moore while an off-colour Moul was demolished 5 and 3 by Dale Marmion.
Boyd had shown tremendous form in finishing top of the qualifiers with a record-equalling 64 at Royal Cinque Ports and he didn’t do much wrong against Moore. But the Cheshire man matched him blow-for-blow and drained a 40-footer for birdie to win on the 19th.
Moore had stated his intentions with birdies at the second and third holes to go two up. However, Boyd got back on terms and they were still level at the 15th before Boyd went ahead with a par at the short 16th. He was still ahead on the 18th tee but after being bunkered off the tee, Boyd just avoided going out of bounds behind the green and could do no better than a bogey 5 to lose the hole to a par.
When they visited the first for the second time, Moore delivered the fatal blow with that 40-footer for a birdie three.
Moore, back from college in Florida, said: “I’ve been struggling with my driving all week and I just hung in there. It wasn’t a pretty match but this was a big win for me. I was virtually scrambling my way around but I had belief in myself,” he added before departing for the range to put his driving right.
The curse of the leading qualifier clearly hit Boyd. “I felt I was hit by a bus over the first three holes and this is a big disappointment with the Walker Cup team being picked at the end of the week,” he said.
“This sort of thing seems to keep happening to me. I was one-up with two to play against Tim Stewart in the British and he birdied the last two and in this event two years ago Steven Capper won the last two to beat me. But at least I didn’t give it away.”
Marmion, who is enjoying a successful year with top-ten finishes in four key event, was also fast out of the blocks against Moul. He won two of the first three holes while a second birdie at the seventh put him three up.
Although Moul won the eighth, Marmion took the ninth, 10th and 12th to go five up, several with pars. Moul took the 14th with a birdie, but the end came with a Marmion par at 15.
“Jamie was struggling a bit and a little out of sorts,” said Marmion. “Although I was five over around here in the qualifying I still felt confident and was happy to be playing Jamie. You want to play the best and he is and you’ve got to prove yourself against players of his calibre.” Yorkshire’s John Parry made short work of fellow international Ed Richardson, winning 7 and 5, but former boy cap Dale Whitnell, two up through 13 holes, was taken to the 18th green before edging past Shaun Malone.
In an all-teenage tussle, Tom Lewis got the better of last year’s England boy captain Sam Hutsby, The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy winner at Dundonald, by 2 and 1. "Neither of us played very well. We were both over par at the end but as long as you shoot level par around here you shouldn‘t be too far away,” said Lewis.
In fact, there was nothing to choose between the pair through ten holes but Lewis won the 11th with a par and the 12th with birdie to go 2up and although Hutsby took the 14th with a birdie-four, Lewis bounced back with a par at 15 and shared the next two for victory.
“We both had chances at 16 and 17 but neither of us took them,” Lewis added. “At 17, Sam’s putt lipped out which was fortunate for me.”
Daniel Willett, the Yorkshire champion and now one of the favourites after Boyd and Moul’s defeats, marched on with a 3 and 2 win over Jarrad McKnight. But Stephen Capper, beaten finalist in 2005 and a last green winner over 14 year old Oscar Sharpe in the preliminary round this morning, was on the wrong end of a 6 and 5 scoreline against Ben Rickett, another US college student.
For the latest scores and news updates click here to go to the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org.
IN MATCH-PLAY STAGES AT ROYAL ST GEORGE'S
There were shocks aplenty when the English men's amateur championship entered the match play stage at Royal St George’s today with internationals Gary Boyd and Jamie Moul being early casualties.
Both players are Walker Cup candidates but Boyd went out at the 19th to Michael Moore while an off-colour Moul was demolished 5 and 3 by Dale Marmion.
Boyd had shown tremendous form in finishing top of the qualifiers with a record-equalling 64 at Royal Cinque Ports and he didn’t do much wrong against Moore. But the Cheshire man matched him blow-for-blow and drained a 40-footer for birdie to win on the 19th.
Moore had stated his intentions with birdies at the second and third holes to go two up. However, Boyd got back on terms and they were still level at the 15th before Boyd went ahead with a par at the short 16th. He was still ahead on the 18th tee but after being bunkered off the tee, Boyd just avoided going out of bounds behind the green and could do no better than a bogey 5 to lose the hole to a par.
When they visited the first for the second time, Moore delivered the fatal blow with that 40-footer for a birdie three.
Moore, back from college in Florida, said: “I’ve been struggling with my driving all week and I just hung in there. It wasn’t a pretty match but this was a big win for me. I was virtually scrambling my way around but I had belief in myself,” he added before departing for the range to put his driving right.
The curse of the leading qualifier clearly hit Boyd. “I felt I was hit by a bus over the first three holes and this is a big disappointment with the Walker Cup team being picked at the end of the week,” he said.
“This sort of thing seems to keep happening to me. I was one-up with two to play against Tim Stewart in the British and he birdied the last two and in this event two years ago Steven Capper won the last two to beat me. But at least I didn’t give it away.”
Marmion, who is enjoying a successful year with top-ten finishes in four key event, was also fast out of the blocks against Moul. He won two of the first three holes while a second birdie at the seventh put him three up.
Although Moul won the eighth, Marmion took the ninth, 10th and 12th to go five up, several with pars. Moul took the 14th with a birdie, but the end came with a Marmion par at 15.
“Jamie was struggling a bit and a little out of sorts,” said Marmion. “Although I was five over around here in the qualifying I still felt confident and was happy to be playing Jamie. You want to play the best and he is and you’ve got to prove yourself against players of his calibre.” Yorkshire’s John Parry made short work of fellow international Ed Richardson, winning 7 and 5, but former boy cap Dale Whitnell, two up through 13 holes, was taken to the 18th green before edging past Shaun Malone.
In an all-teenage tussle, Tom Lewis got the better of last year’s England boy captain Sam Hutsby, The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy winner at Dundonald, by 2 and 1. "Neither of us played very well. We were both over par at the end but as long as you shoot level par around here you shouldn‘t be too far away,” said Lewis.
In fact, there was nothing to choose between the pair through ten holes but Lewis won the 11th with a par and the 12th with birdie to go 2up and although Hutsby took the 14th with a birdie-four, Lewis bounced back with a par at 15 and shared the next two for victory.
“We both had chances at 16 and 17 but neither of us took them,” Lewis added. “At 17, Sam’s putt lipped out which was fortunate for me.”
Daniel Willett, the Yorkshire champion and now one of the favourites after Boyd and Moul’s defeats, marched on with a 3 and 2 win over Jarrad McKnight. But Stephen Capper, beaten finalist in 2005 and a last green winner over 14 year old Oscar Sharpe in the preliminary round this morning, was on the wrong end of a 6 and 5 scoreline against Ben Rickett, another US college student.
For the latest scores and news updates click here to go to the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org.
Labels: Amateur Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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