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The Amateur

Highlights: Bigham eyes R&A title double as he reaches Amateur quarter-finals

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The R&A
20 Jun 24
3 mins

Jack Bigham’s bid to add another R&A title to his collection gathered pace as the Walker Cup player surged into the quarter-finals of The 129th Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin.

The 20-year-old Englishman, who won The Boys’ Amateur Championship in 2021, stayed on course for a notable double with two contrasting match play victories over the Glashedy Links. Bigham had been three-down at the turn in his second-round encounter with South Africa’s Jordan Burnand but reeled off four birdies on the back-nine to turn the tussle around and seal a hard-earned 3&1 victory. Bigham The Florida State University student carried that momentum into his third-round duel with Ukraine’s Lev Grinberg in the afternoon and won four of the first five holes to forge a commanding lead on his way to a 5&4 victory. “I got off to a bit of a slow start in the morning match, but I wasn't too worried because I played well on the back-nine in the second round of stroke play,” he said. “I ended up getting it done on the 17th and then carried on playing well for the rest of the day.” Bigham’s compatriot, Dominic Clemons, also has another silver lining in his sights after sweeping into the last-eight with a 4&3 win over Welsh Walker Cup player James Ashfield. Clemons, who has posted a series of impressive results on the US college scene this season, made a significant statement of intent earlier this month when he won the Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Muirfield by an extraordinary 17 shots. Ashfield had won his opening two ties by a 6&4 margin, but he met his match in Clemons, who illuminated a convincing win with a raking birdie putt of over 40-feet on the ninth which put him four-up.
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Dominic Clemons - England

“People on the outside looking in, they probably might be surprised but I've known for a while that I’ve been playing well. Success breeds success.”

Confident Clemons

“I’ve had a good year in America,” said Clemons. “So, I wasn’t surprised I won at Muirfield although I never expected to win by 17 shots.  “People on the outside looking in, they probably might be surprised but I've known for a while that I’ve been playing well. Success breeds success.” Germany’s Laurenz Schiergen claimed the scalp of the No 1 qualifier, Connor Graham, in round two before securing a quarter-final berth for the second time in three years with a 19th hole win against Charlie Forster. In a closely fought joust, Schiergen was holding a slender one-hole lead after a steady run of 15 pars and one birdie but a bogey on the 17th, only his second in two matches during the day, allowed Forster to draw level. The Englishman’s own bogey at the first extra hole proved costly, however, as Schiergen, aiming to become just the second German to reach the final after Christian Reimbold in 2000, set up a last-eight clash with Clemons.

Quarter-finals locked in

Walker Cup player Calum Scott continued his fine form to keep hopes of a first Scottish win since 2014 alive. In a tight third round encounter with Dylan Shaw-Radford, the 21-year-old, who was a quarter-finalist over his home course of Nairn in 2021, made a telling late thrust and birdied the 14th and 15th en route to a 3&2 victory. Luke Sample’s excellent debut in The Amateur Championship was rewarded with a place in the last-eight as the New Yorker beat Harry Crockett 5&3.  Earlier in the day, Sample had thwarted the ambitions of Walker Cup player, Conor Gough, with a 3&2 win in the second round. Sample is the last remaining player from the United States of America after the towering Tommy Morrison bogeyed the 18th to lose by one hole to England’s Matthew Dodd-Berry, who has his 15-year-old brother as his caddie. Spain’s Marcel Fonseca, who beat Iceland’s Arni Gunnlaugur Sveinsson by one hole, and Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, a 20th hole winner against Tom Osborne, make up an intriguing quarter-final draw.
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The Amateur