BANCHORY'S BYRNE REACHES MUIRFIELD FINAL
FACES FIRST ASIAN TO MAKE LAST DAY
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE RandABanchory's James Byrne has a chance of becoming the first Scot to win the Amateur Championship on home soil since Stuart Wilson won at St Andrews in 2004. He’ll face Korea’s Jin Jeong, who becomes the first Asian player to reach the final in the event's history. The winner will become the 2010 Amateur Champion, receiving an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a Masters Tournament invitation.
Jin Jeong is No 10 in the RandA World Amateur Golf Rankings. James Byrne is No 20.
In the morning quarter-finals, Byrne overcame France’s Edouard Espana 2 and;1 in a tight encounter, before commencing a fiercely-contested semi-final with Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup star Chris Paisley, which was followed by well over 200 spectators. The Englishman took an early lead after Byrne, 21, failed to make par at the 213-yard, par-3 fourth.
That would be the greatest advantage the Englishman would enjoy over the Arizona State University student. The Banchory man got back on level terms with a 20ft birdie putt at the eighth, then developed a two-hole lead courtesy of wins at the 10th and 13th holes. Four consecutive halves in par followed, the last of those ensuring his second 2 and 1 victory of the day.
“It would be absolutely brilliant to win (the championship). I played in the Amateur down south last year and saw the massive crowds following Tommy [Fleetwood] so hopefully it will be the same,” Byrne said. “It would be good to win it for them.
“This is the highlight of my summer. I’ve been gearing towards this tournament and to have all the hard work pay off would be excellent,” he added.
“I am disappointed to be beaten,” said Paisley, who had defeated Italy’s Andrea Pavan earlier in the day. “But I don’t mind as much when it’s by a player as good as James. He played some quality shots today and deserved to win.”
Jeong, meanwhile, was rarely troubled in both his quarter and semi-final matches. A comfortable 3 and 2 victory over Ulsterman Paul Cutler in the morning, which was rounded off by an eagle 2 on the 443yd, par-four 15th, preceded a dominating triumph against Matthew Nixon of England.
The 20-year-old got off to the perfect start, winning the first two holes with a par four and a birdie three respectively. Nixon won the fourth to reduce the deficit to one, but Jeong would take four of the next six to build a five-hole advantage by the 10th. The 2010 Riversdale Cup champion maintained that margin, winning the match 5 and 4.
“I’ve been thinking about winning this tournament for a long time,” said Jeong, who plays off a plus five handicap. I’ve been dreaming about The Open since I started playing golf and, about two years ago, I realised that if I win the Amateur, I would get to play in The Open.
“I couldn’t get in back then because I wasn’t good enough, but I’ve won a couple of national tournaments, and now I’m in the final.”
Defeated Nixon, the 2006 Boys Amateur Champion, said: “I am not too disheartened. I’m more than happy to be here and get into the last four.”
The 36-hole final will take place at Muirfield, East Lothian, tomorrow. The first round gets underway at 8.30am, with the second due to commence at 1pm.
The winner of the final will receive an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a 2011 Masters Tournament invitation.
Entry to the course is free and car parking is available. Live text commentary will be available on RandA.org.
Jin Jeong played links golf for first time only three weeks ago
FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By ALISTAIR TAIT
Jin Jeong, the first Asian player to reach the British Amateur final, only started playing links golf THREE weeks ago. His first taste of old-fashioned golf came in the Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Glasgow Gailes. The 20-year-old did well to finish seventh, considering it was a new experience.
Last weekend Jeong played in the St Andrews Links Trophy and missed the cut because he couldn’t handle the capricious nature of the Jubilee Course.
“I didn’t like it (links golf) the first time,” Jeong said. “When I play in the U.S. or Australia I can control the ball, but here the ball bounces everywhere.
“I just hated last week. I couldn’t do anything around the greens. Most times I hit it over the green. I couldn’t spin the ball on the greens. Now it’s fun.”
Jeong has been dreaming of playing in the Amateur Championship for some time. He first became enamored with links golf when he watched television footage of Ernie Els winning the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I dreamed of hitting out of the long rough. We don’t have rough like that in Korea or Australia.”
Thankfully Jeong hasn’t had to do much of that this week. Besides Nixon and Cutler, he’s overcome strong players in Tom Lewis, the reigning British boys champion, and France’s Romain Wattel, winner of the Scottish stroke-play championship.
Now he’s on the verge of realising another dream.
“I’ve been dreaming about winning this tournament for a long time, since I found out that if I win I get to play in the British Open. My goal this week was to win this tournament.”
Jeong no longer lives in South Korea. He moved to Australia three years ago to play golf full-time. He is a member of Waverly Golf Club in Melbourne, where he takes lessons from head pro Trevor Flakemore. He has permanent residence status and can apply for Australian citizenship at the end of this year.
Not only has he adapted well to links golf, but to life in Australia. He has won two of Australia’s biggest amateur championships this year, the Tasmanian Open and Riversdale Cup.
It should be a riveting final, and a dream come true for whoever takes the trophy.
Matthew Nixon (Ashton under Lyne) bt Rhys Enoch (Truro) 3 and 2.
Jin Jeong (South Korea) bt Paul Culter (Portstewart) 3 and 2.
James Byrne (Banchory) bt Edouard Espana (France) 2 and 1.
Chris Paisley (Stocksfield) bt Andrea Pavan (Italy) 5 and 4.
SEMI-FINALS
Jin Jeong bt Matthew Nixon 5 and 4.
James Byrne bt Chris Paisley 2 and 1
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE RandABanchory's James Byrne has a chance of becoming the first Scot to win the Amateur Championship on home soil since Stuart Wilson won at St Andrews in 2004. He’ll face Korea’s Jin Jeong, who becomes the first Asian player to reach the final in the event's history. The winner will become the 2010 Amateur Champion, receiving an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a Masters Tournament invitation.
Jin Jeong is No 10 in the RandA World Amateur Golf Rankings. James Byrne is No 20.
In the morning quarter-finals, Byrne overcame France’s Edouard Espana 2 and;1 in a tight encounter, before commencing a fiercely-contested semi-final with Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup star Chris Paisley, which was followed by well over 200 spectators. The Englishman took an early lead after Byrne, 21, failed to make par at the 213-yard, par-3 fourth.
That would be the greatest advantage the Englishman would enjoy over the Arizona State University student. The Banchory man got back on level terms with a 20ft birdie putt at the eighth, then developed a two-hole lead courtesy of wins at the 10th and 13th holes. Four consecutive halves in par followed, the last of those ensuring his second 2 and 1 victory of the day.
“It would be absolutely brilliant to win (the championship). I played in the Amateur down south last year and saw the massive crowds following Tommy [Fleetwood] so hopefully it will be the same,” Byrne said. “It would be good to win it for them.
“This is the highlight of my summer. I’ve been gearing towards this tournament and to have all the hard work pay off would be excellent,” he added.
“I am disappointed to be beaten,” said Paisley, who had defeated Italy’s Andrea Pavan earlier in the day. “But I don’t mind as much when it’s by a player as good as James. He played some quality shots today and deserved to win.”
Jeong, meanwhile, was rarely troubled in both his quarter and semi-final matches. A comfortable 3 and 2 victory over Ulsterman Paul Cutler in the morning, which was rounded off by an eagle 2 on the 443yd, par-four 15th, preceded a dominating triumph against Matthew Nixon of England.
The 20-year-old got off to the perfect start, winning the first two holes with a par four and a birdie three respectively. Nixon won the fourth to reduce the deficit to one, but Jeong would take four of the next six to build a five-hole advantage by the 10th. The 2010 Riversdale Cup champion maintained that margin, winning the match 5 and 4.
“I’ve been thinking about winning this tournament for a long time,” said Jeong, who plays off a plus five handicap. I’ve been dreaming about The Open since I started playing golf and, about two years ago, I realised that if I win the Amateur, I would get to play in The Open.
“I couldn’t get in back then because I wasn’t good enough, but I’ve won a couple of national tournaments, and now I’m in the final.”
Defeated Nixon, the 2006 Boys Amateur Champion, said: “I am not too disheartened. I’m more than happy to be here and get into the last four.”
The 36-hole final will take place at Muirfield, East Lothian, tomorrow. The first round gets underway at 8.30am, with the second due to commence at 1pm.
The winner of the final will receive an exemption into the 150th Anniversary Open Championship and a 2011 Masters Tournament invitation.
Entry to the course is free and car parking is available. Live text commentary will be available on RandA.org.
Jin Jeong played links golf for first time only three weeks ago
FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By ALISTAIR TAIT
Jin Jeong, the first Asian player to reach the British Amateur final, only started playing links golf THREE weeks ago. His first taste of old-fashioned golf came in the Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Glasgow Gailes. The 20-year-old did well to finish seventh, considering it was a new experience.
Last weekend Jeong played in the St Andrews Links Trophy and missed the cut because he couldn’t handle the capricious nature of the Jubilee Course.
“I didn’t like it (links golf) the first time,” Jeong said. “When I play in the U.S. or Australia I can control the ball, but here the ball bounces everywhere.
“I just hated last week. I couldn’t do anything around the greens. Most times I hit it over the green. I couldn’t spin the ball on the greens. Now it’s fun.”
Jeong has been dreaming of playing in the Amateur Championship for some time. He first became enamored with links golf when he watched television footage of Ernie Els winning the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I dreamed of hitting out of the long rough. We don’t have rough like that in Korea or Australia.”
Thankfully Jeong hasn’t had to do much of that this week. Besides Nixon and Cutler, he’s overcome strong players in Tom Lewis, the reigning British boys champion, and France’s Romain Wattel, winner of the Scottish stroke-play championship.
Now he’s on the verge of realising another dream.
“I’ve been dreaming about winning this tournament for a long time, since I found out that if I win I get to play in the British Open. My goal this week was to win this tournament.”
Jeong no longer lives in South Korea. He moved to Australia three years ago to play golf full-time. He is a member of Waverly Golf Club in Melbourne, where he takes lessons from head pro Trevor Flakemore. He has permanent residence status and can apply for Australian citizenship at the end of this year.
Not only has he adapted well to links golf, but to life in Australia. He has won two of Australia’s biggest amateur championships this year, the Tasmanian Open and Riversdale Cup.
It should be a riveting final, and a dream come true for whoever takes the trophy.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALSMatthew Nixon (Ashton under Lyne) bt Rhys Enoch (Truro) 3 and 2.
Jin Jeong (South Korea) bt Paul Culter (Portstewart) 3 and 2.
James Byrne (Banchory) bt Edouard Espana (France) 2 and 1.
Chris Paisley (Stocksfield) bt Andrea Pavan (Italy) 5 and 4.
SEMI-FINALS
Jin Jeong bt Matthew Nixon 5 and 4.
James Byrne bt Chris Paisley 2 and 1
Labels: Amateur Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, June 18, 2010
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