WOOD CARRIES ENGLAND HOPES INTO AMATEUR QUARTER FINALS
 ‘A’
squad member Chris Wood is the only English player through
to the quarter finals of the Amateur Championship after a
dramatic fourth day at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
The three England internationals, Gary Boyd, David Horsey
and Jamie Moul, all fell by the wayside on a day when the
favourites took a heavy toll but Wood is still flying high.
After dismissing Gordon Yates by 2 and 1 in the morning, the
19 year old from Bristol claimed a major scalp in round four
when he ended the hopes of Walker Cup man Lloyd Saltman by
one hole.
Having missed the cut in the Lytham Trophy earlier this season,
Wood said "I was determined to come back and prove that
I could play the course". Against Saltman he recovered
from two down when he birdied three out of four holes from
the 13th. At the last, Wood holed from 25 feet while Saltman
missed from eight and was out.
Saltman said: "I played very well and only hit one bad
shot when I missed the green at the short 12th. I was one
under for the last six holes which is not bad going at Lytham,
but it was not good enough. I was feeling good but he took
it off me."
Boyd needed an extra hole to put out Irishman Shane Lowry
in the morning but then found Aussie Tim Stewart a tough nut
to crack in round four and went down by one hole.
Leading qualifier Horsey was expected to get past Jason Shufflebotham
in round three but the young Welshman defied the odds to claim
victory by two holes and then went on to beat American Tom
Glissmeyer by 3 and 2.
Moul gained some revenge for the Ashes defeat down under
earlier this year when he got past Rohan Blizard 3 and 1 in
the morning only to go out to young Scot Ross Kellett by one
hole in the afternoon. Kellett was one up playing the last
but drove into a fairway bunker. His recovery finished off
right of the green and he putted up to six feet and holed
for a par four. Moul, 15 feet beyond the pin in two, missed
the putt that would have taken the match into extra time.
"When he drove into the bunker I was thinking of a playoff,"
said Moul. "But he hit an unbelievable shot."
Kellett commented: "Jamie was not at his best and I
holed a few putts. When I came here my target was to make
the cut, but now I've got this far I can't see why I can't
win."
Yorkshire’s Daniel Willett, conqueror of Irish teenager
Rory McIlroy in round two, was seeking further progress against
Scotland’s Kevin McAlpine but went down by two holes.
The Scot was then eliminated by American Drew Weaver.
Australia and Scotland have two players each in the final
eight, and one each from England, Wales, Spain and the United
States.
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