Swede success for Daniel Jennevret - leading Amateur qualifier

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Royal Troon:  Sweden’s Daniel Jennevret leads the field into the match-play stage of the 2012 Amateur Championship at Royal Troon and Glasgow-Gailes Links.  

Jennevret, ranked 576 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) is looking to become just the second Swede to win the Amateur Championship after Christian Hardin triumphed in 1988 at Royal Porthcawl.

The 22-year-old student at Texas Christian University in the United States broke the Royal Troon amateur course record with a 6-under-par 65, adding to his opening level par 71 at Glasgow- Gailes Links yesterday.

Jennevret has his eyes on the ultimate prize that goes with winning the Amateur Championship. “It would be huge to get into The Open Championship,” Jennevret said. “That’s what I’m aiming for.”
The native of Sandviken, Sweden, only made one mistake around Royal Troon. He bogeyed the 503-yard par-4 15th hole, when he drove into the left hand rough and could only chip the ball back into play.
“I putted incredibly well,” he said. “It’s all about hitting fairways, too. I was good off the tee and hit 17 greens. This is one of the better rounds I have played.”

Joint overnight leader Geoff Drakeford finished two shots back in second position, after the Australian scored 71 at Glasgow-Gailes Links to go with the 67 he scored at Royal Troon. Frenchmen Paul Barjon and Adrien Saddier finished in third position on 3-under-par alongside Ireland’s Richard O’Donovan.

O’Donovan, who finished 4^th at the St Andrews Links Trophy, equalled the amateur course record at Glasgow Gailes-Links, currently held by Scotland’s Ross Kellett.  

His fantastic bogey-free 5-under- par 66 included a series of long putts and a chip-in at the second hole.

The qualification mark after the stroke play stages sits at a 3-over-par total of 145. Seventy-eight players from twenty-five countries progressed to the match play stages where the last man standing on Saturday earns a spot in The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, a place in the US Open and traditionally an invitation to The Masters.
Daan Huizing, currently fifth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, was among those to make it through. He returned rounds of 71 at Glasgow-Gailes Links to go with his opening 72 at Royal Troon to finish joint 28th of the 288 starters.

The Dutchman warmed up for The Amateur by winning the Lytham Trophy by eleven shots and the St Andrews Links Trophy by 14 shots. Huizing is keen to make it a British treble. “I’ve been aiming to be ready for this for many months,” Huizing said. “I realise how big it is and I’ve tried to be at my best. Hopefully I can win it.”

Other notables to qualify include WAGR number nine Julien Brun of France, 2011 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup players Rhys Pugh and Alan Dunbar, former Boys Amateur champion Emilio Cuartero of Spain and European Amateur champion Manuel Trappel.
Local boy Jack MacDonald from Kilmarnock (Barassie) also progressed, along with fellow countrymen James White, Paul Ferrier, Daniel Young and Brian Soutar.

WAGR number seven Corbin Mills did not advance to the match play stages. The American missed out by four shots after returning a second round 77 at Royal Troon to finish on 149. Australia’s Jake Higginbottom, the WAGR number eight, also finished on the same score to miss out.
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Tomorrow’s preliminary match play round will get underway at 7am.