Scottish teenager Ruben Lindsay claimed the top spot in stroke play qualifying at the 125th Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale in Lancashire.
The 16-year-old finished top of the 64 players and ties who progressed to the match play stage, after one round of stroke play qualifying with yesterday’s round abandoned due to bad weather.
Recording a four-under-par 67, Lindsay was delighted with his round, which was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 15th and included birdies at the 1st, 6th, 9th, and 17th. A closing bogey on 18, just his second of the day, did little to dampen the Scottish Boys’ Amateur champion’s spirits as he looks forward to the match play stage of the Championship.
England’s Mason Essam took second spot with a three-under 68, which featured an eagle at the par-5 17th which was reminiscent of Padraig Harrington’s memorable approach shot into the 71st hole of the 137th Open. Fellow Englishman Sam Broadhurst, recovered from a triple bogey on the par-4 3rd hole with a birdie at the 4th followed by an eagle at the par-5 6th. Dropped shots at the 9th and 10th holes did little to stop the 23-year-old, who steadied with a birdie at the 11th, before adding a further three to his card in the final four holes of the round. He claimed joint third place on the leaderboard on 68 alongside Benjamin Schmidt.
The top-ranked player in the field, Schmidt opened his round with a birdie at the first before making the turn at two-under-par. The 18-year-old overcame bogeys at the 11th and 14th with birdies at 15 and 17 to safely progress to the match play stage of the Championship.
The cut mark fell at five-over-par, with 68 players qualifying. By virtue of a card countback, Nicolas Gerhardsen and Rowan Lester progressed to round two of the match play.
With the match play stage starting from tomorrow through to Sunday’s 36-hole final, there is much at stake as the winner gains an exemption into the 149th Open at Royal St George’s next July and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament and an exemption to the US Open.
Live scoring, news and video from the 125th Amateur Championship can be followed at www.randa.org.