Tommy Fleetwood
-picture © Tom Ward
Tommy Fleetwood continued his march
towards the English Amateur Championship at
Little Aston with a 5 and 4 win over Luke
Cornford from Sussex, otherwise is wasn’t a
good morning for the Lancashire
players.
Starting with six representatives, they lost
four, only Jonathan Hurst joining Fleetwood in
the last 16 for this afternoon’s third
round.
Fleetwood had little trouble against Cornford,
racing into an early lead and completing his
victory on the 14th green.
Similarly, Hurst was generally in control against
Patrick Kelly from Boston West, a member of
the England under 16 squad, and cruised to a
6 and 5 win.
International team-mates Jamie Abbott and
Chris Paisley shared the birdies in an intriguing
contest but Abbott was generally ahead and
completed a 3 and 2 victory over the 2008
losing finalist, who was playing his final
individual event before turning professional.
Chris Lloyd, the leading qualifier, was given a
fight by Adam Keogh which looked like finishing
out in the country with Lloyd 3up with three to
play. But Keogh birdied the 16th before Lloyd
three-putted 17, then Keogh missed from 12
feet at the last to force the contest into extra
holes.
Darren Wright, winner of the Brabazon Trophy,
reached the last 16 with a 5 and 4 win over
Andrew Palmer, another Lancastrian, while
Jack Senior added to Lancashire’s woes by
losing 2 and 1 to Surrey’s Warren Harmston.
The contest was packed with birdies with
Senior around six under and Harmston
approximately eight under at the end.
Tom Lewis, another England international,
enjoyed a two-hole lead over Max Smith but
the boy cap bounced back to take the contest
to the 18th where a half for Lewis was enough
to see him through by the narrowest of
margins.
Boy international James Burnett holed from 25
feet on the final green to put out Jack Brooks,
while Andy Sullivan, Midland Closed champion
and winner of the Lagonda Trophy, ended the
hopes of James Robinson with a 3 and 1
victory.
Nick Newbold, Derbyshire’s lone survivor, also
had to go to the final green to put out Kent’s
Tom Sherreard, a semi-finalist two years ago,
by one hole
ABOUT THE
English Amateur
The English Amateur was played in its inaugural
year of 1925 at Hoylake when local golfer T
Froes Ellison captured the title. He successfully
defended the following year at Walton
Heath, a feat achieved by only six others: Frank
Pennink, Alan Thirlwell, Michael Bonallack, Harry
Ashby, Mark Foster, and Paul Casey. Sir Nick
Faldo is the most famous to have won the event
as the six-time major champion won the 1975
tournament at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
The tournament consists of two stroke
play rounds, after which the top 64 players
will advance to the match
play rounds, culminating in a 36-hole final
between two finalists.
View Complete Tournament Information