19 June 2010, Gullane, Scotland: Korea’s Jin Jeong has become the 2010 Amateur Champion. He becomes the first Asian winner of the event in its 125-year history after defeating James Byrne of Scotland 5&4 in today’s 36-hole final at Muirfield, East Lothian.

 

Jeong, 20, produced a superb display of putting to take the title with a birdie at the 32^nd hole, his tenth of the day. The reigning Riversdale Cup Champion reached the half-way stage two holes ahead of Byrne, the 21-year-old Scot having let an early two-hole advantage of his own slip away.

 

For the first four holes of the afternoon round, the scores remained the same, before Jeong made the telling move. He holed birdie putts of 30 feet, 12 feet and 18 feet on the par-five fifth, par-four sixth and par-three seventh respectively to build a five-hole lead that would prove insurmountable.

 

“I’ve never putted better than that,” said Jeong, a 5&4 winner in yesterday’s semi-final. “I was quite nervous all week, especially before today. But I came here this week really wanting to win. I wanted this title so badly.”

 

Courtesy of his victory, the current world number 10, who plays his golf in Australia representing Waverley Golf Club, earns an exemption into the 150^th Anniversary Open Championship and an invitation to the 2011 Masters Tournament.

 

“I hoped that I was going to win the Amateur and come back for The Open because I’ve been watching The Open on TV every year since Ernie Els won at Muirfield in 2002. That was the first time I’d ever watched it,” he said. “I really wanted to know what it was like to play out of knee-high rough!

 

“I always hoped that my first Major would be The Open. Now I can play at St Andrews. It means everything. It’s a dream come true.”

 

Jeong becomes the second Korean amateur to earn a place at St Andrews, the other being Eric Chun, who secured his Open berth at International Final Qualifying – Asia earlier in the year.

 

James Byrne, meanwhile, narrowly missed out on becoming the first Scot to win the Amateur Championship on home soil since Stuart Wilson, who won at the Home of Golf in 2004. The world number 20 was denied the chance of finding the form he had shown in previous rounds.

 

“I made a steady start,” said the Banchory member. “He made a couple of bogeys and I got two up.

 

“The conditions were much tougher today. Not only was it windy, but there were a lot of cross winds, and he [Jeong] seemed to handle it well - really good ball control. I was struggling with that. 

 

“I don’t know how he putted so well. Every putt he hit was just perfect speed – it was unbelievable.  He never really gave me a chance.

 

“But I’ve got two more chances to secure my Open debut this year: Local Final Qualifying at Kingbarns for the 2010 Open, and the European Amateur for 2011, so I am looking forward to that,” the Scotsman added.

 

Full results from the 2010 Amateur Championship can be found online at RandA.org along with a full hole-by-hole description of the final.

 

The 2011 Amateur Championship will be held at Hillside and Hesketh golf clubs on 13-18 June.

 

 

16 June 2010, Gullane, Scotland: The three stars of Great Britain and Ireland’s 2009 Walker Cup team contesting the Amateur Championship this week, Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Paisley and Stiggy Hodgson have safely made it through the first round. They join 29 other players representing 15nations, who are one step closer to the Open Championship exemption and the Masters Tournament invitation on offer to the winner.

                                                             

Fleetwood, 19, finished stroke play qualifying two shots clear of the field after he followed an opening-day 70 at Muirfield, with a six-under-par 65 at North Berwick. Despite going two holes down after five today, the World Amateur Golf Ranking number nine rallied to turn the match around and win 2&1.

 

“The first few holes were a bit of a struggle,” said the 2008 Amateur Championship runner-up. “Towards the end though, when I really needed it, I played well.

 

“I’m still feeling confident. As long as I play well, I think I’ve got a good chance of going all the way. You never know who you’re going up against, but I fancy my chances here.”

 

Displaying similar levels of confidence is Stiggy Hodgson, who comfortably defeated Royal Liverpool’s Tom Boys 4&3.

 

“You can’t get over-confident, but I feel confident enough. I’m going to be tough to beat,” said Sunningdale’s Hodgson, who took two points from four against the USA last September at Merion Golf Club.

 

“I’m striking it great and putting well, which is nice. I can’t get too excited yet, though. It’s only the first round, and I didn’t play fantastic today, but it’s job done.”

 

Completing the trio of Walker Cup players is Stocksfield’s Chris Paisley. The 24-year-old progressed to the second round after a 3&2 victory over Italy’s Mattia Miloro.

 

“The Walker Cup gave me lots of confidence,” explained Paisley, who graduated from the University of Tennessee last year. “I had two halves in the singles there, and both were really good games. It gave me confidence that I can play on a big stage like that.

 

“It was good today, just a steady performance. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”

 

International players progressing included Jin Jeong of Korea and Australia’s Kieran Pratt, both of whom won their matches by two holes. And, like Fleetwood, Hodgson and Paisley, they are brimming with confidence going into the rest of the week.

 

“I’m hitting it well and I’ve been putting pretty well this week, so I’m quite confident of hopefully winning this one,” said Jeong, the world number 10.

 

Pratt, who won the 2010 Lake Macquarie Amateur by 11 strokes, said: “Hopefully I can lift it in the next few matches and put more pressure on my opponent. But I got enough out of today to move on and be confident over the next few days.”

 

Others to make it into day four include Welshman Rhys Enoch, Scotland's James Byrne, Bolivia’s Sebastian MacLean, Yuki Usami of Japan and Sweden’s Henrik Norlander.

 

Tomorrow will see 32 become eight, as the remaining competitors play two rounds of match play. The draw is available to view on RandA.org and live match scores will be updated online throughout the day.

 

The 36-hole final will be played on Saturday. The winner will receive exemption into the 150^th Anniversary Open Championship and a Masters Tournament invitation.