Tuesday, September 14, 2010

James Byrne targets success on US

college circuit in final

year at Arizona State

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
 By Martin Dempster
JAMES Byrne, the newly-crowned 2010 Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year, is aiming to use his final year at Arizona State University to make his mark on the US college circuit and become a better player ahead of an expected Walker Cup debut next season.
The 21-year-old Banchory player, pictured by Tom Ward Photography, has joined the likes of Gavin Dear, Callum Macaulay and Richie Ramsay in winning the award, thanks to the fact he is the leading Scot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Byrne, a finalist in this year's Amateur Championship at Muirfield - he lost to Jip Jeong, the South Korean who went on to win the Silver Medal as leading amateur in the Open Championship at St Andrews - was ranked at No 15 when the official ranking season concluded, with Scottish champion Michael Stewart (74th) and Ross Kellett (87th) his nearest challengers.
That trio will be joining forces to stage Scotland's defence of the Eisenhower Trophy in Argentina next month and both Stewart and Kellett will be teeing it up alongside the leading home-basded professionals in next week's Northern Open at Meldrum House as part of their preparations.

Byrne, though, is back in Arizona, where he feels he has the best chance of sustaining the level of performance required to make the Great Britain and Ireland team to face the Americans in next year's Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen
"I still have another year of my degree to complete before I graduate so in that period I'll be striving to make further improvements to my game and take full advantage of the great opportunities I have here in the States," he said.
"I'm confident that when I graduate in May, I'll return to Scotland knowing that it has been a worthwhile and very rewarding experience which has contributed greatly to my success."

Pinpointing particular targets, he added: "It would be great to bring the Eisenhower Trophy back to Scotland for another two years. I'd also like to establish myself more on the college golf stage in America and would love to play in next year's Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen, which is a course I'm very familiar with.

"I'm also looking forward to having another crack at The Amateur Championship, having gone so close at Muirfield."

On top of that great effort in East Lothian, Byrne also reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Amateur, finished 11th in the European Amateur and lost out in a play-off at Kingsbarns, where he shot a 64, for a spot in the Open Championship.

"I'm delighted to be named Scottish Golfer of the Year," he said of his award. "I have played some of the best golf of my career this year and to collect this honour makes all my hard work very worthwhile. I am playing with a consistency that has allowed me to contend on a more frequent basis."

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