Cormac Sharpe battled through and Oliver Mukharjee continued his exceptional recent run but three other Scots fell in the first matchplay round of the R&A Boys Championship at Carnoustie.
There was particular disappointment for Blairgowrie’s R&A Junior Open champion Connor Graham. Connor ran into an inspired putting display by Angel Ayora, one of a hugely impressive Spanish team who are dominating the Boys and Girls matchplay draws.
But clubmate Sharpe battled all the way against Italy’s Luca Memeo, winning the 18th to force extra holes and finally prevailing on the third extra hole.
Ten in a row for Oliver
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Gullane’s Mukharjee had to birdie three of the last four holes to be one of the few to beat a Spaniard, in his case Inigo Izuzquiza.
And his final shot from 194 yards to ten feet at the last invoked the famous Paul Lawrie finish at Carnoustie in 1999 – seven years before Oliver was born.
“Paul sent us a video ahead of the Boys’ Home Internationals and he was talking about that shot,” said the 16-year-old. “He said he felt calm so I was just trying to recreate that.
“I watched the highlights back and it was pretty cool to see. I had 194 yards for my approach, hit it to 10 feet with a 6-iron and made the birdie to close it out.”
With his win in the Scottish Amateur two weeks ago and three wins at the Home Internationals at Downfield, that’s ten matchplay singles in a row for Oliver. He faces top seed Jorge Siyuan Hao in Friday morning’s second round.
Ayora’s brilliance on the greens
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Glenbervie’s Ross Laird was Scotland’s biggest winner in the first round, romping to a 5 and 4 victory over Marco Florioli of Italy. But Graham’s campaign ended at the first stage thanks to Ayora’s brilliance on the greens.
The 17-year-old opened with a long birdie putt at the first and that was the theme whenever Connor fought his way back into the contest. Similarly long birdie putts at six and eight had the Spaniard two up at the turn.
But Ayaro drove into the burn downwind at the 10th and Connor birdied the 11th to bring it back to all square.
The match hinged on the 15th, where Ayaro holed another long putt from just off the putting surface to go back one-up. The Spaniard walked it in from three feet out so cionfident had he become.
His birdie at 18 – after driving just 30 yards short of the burn – clinched the match.
Poulter falls in the first round
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Luke Poulter, eldest son of Ryder Cup legend Ian Poulter, showed some nice touches especially in the long game but had to give best to a tenacious Jack Lee.
Poulter had his nose in front much of the way but the 17 year old from Kent drew level at 14 and won the 16th when Poulter three-putted.
He missed a great chance to get back to level when, with Lee in the bunker in two, Poulter followed him in. Two solid shots to six feet from Lee up the 18th secured a win by two holes.
In the Girls’ Championship there were four more wins for the impressive Spanish team but top seed Paula Sampedra Martin was ousted by England’s Amelia Wan.