(Fron the Scottishgolf website)Michael Stewart’s bid to land The Amateur Championship title ended in disappointment after a superb performance from Bryden Macpherson gave the Australian a 3 and 2 victory in a pulsating final at Hillside.
After sweeping through yesterday’s quarter and semi-final matches in style, it was to prove a frustrating day on the greens for the 21-year-old from Troon Welbeck, leaving his opponent from Melbourne to land the dream prize of a place in next month’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s and a spot in the 2012 US Masters.
In front of large galleries on the Lancashire coast, boosted by a significant Ayrshire contingent, both players looked edgy in the opening exchanges but it was the Scotland Men’s Elite Squad player who seized the early initiative with a win at the opening hole. The Australian levelled at the second but Stewart won the third to restore his lead, however the Scottish Amateur Champion three-putted the sixth to go back to level and was never able to regain his lead.
Macpherson took the upper hand for the first time winning the ninth with a four and after Stewart failed to get up and down for par at ten, the Australian found himself two up and in the driving seat, a lead he was to hold at lunch-time after the conclusion of the morning round.
Another missed putt from the Scot increased Macpherson’s advantage to three up after 19, but he responded in style with a birdie at the 20th hole to cut the lead to two. A superb rescue to 5-feet at the par five fifth (23rd) set up a Stewart eagle to narrow the gap to one hole and as both players found their rhythm the match was evenly poised with some great golf on show.
A mistake from Stewart at the 27th however handed the momentum back to the Australian as he went two up going into the homeward nine but a superb sand save at the short 10th (28th) got Stewart back to one down. The Troon man followed that up with a brave 25-foot birdie putt to halve the 29th but a disappointing three-putt at the 32nd was to prove costly, leaving him two down with four to play.
Macpherson won the 15th (33rd) with a well-executed birdie three to go three up and despite a superb tee-shot from 220 yards to 15-feet at the 16th (34th), Stewart’s putter was cold again, leaving the Australian’s par good enough to clinch a fine battle by a 3 and 2 margin.
Stewart’s defeat was the second successive final loss by a Scot after his international team-mate James Byrne missed out in last year’s final to Korean Jin Jeong, but the rising star will be consoled by the likelihood of cementing his place in September’s GB&I Walker Cup side.
Highlights from the final of The 116th Amateur Championship will be shown on Sky Sports 2 tomorrow (Sunday 19 June), ahead of their US Open coverage at 1730 and repeated at 0030 on Monday morning.
Hamish Grey, Chief Executive of the SGU, praised Stewart’s performance: “Michael has played fantastic golf all week and in reaching the final shows his stature in the amateur game. He has enjoyed fantastic success both at home and overseas in South Africa and I’m sure he’ll continue his excellent progress.
“Our congratulations also go to Greg Paterson on getting to the semi-finals and we’re proud to have had two Scotland squad players in the last four of The Amateur Championship, which is a great achievement.” he added.
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