Rafferty sixth as Schmid wins European Amateur, Walker second again
Caolan Rafferty. Picture: EGA
Caolan Rafferty tied for sixth and Scotland’s Euan Walker was forced to settle for second again as Germany’s Matthias Schmid claimed a spot in The Open at Royal Portrush following his three-stroke win in the European Amateur Championship in Austria.
Leading by two shots after a record-breaking, nine-under-par 63, Schmid birdied the first, eagled the fourth and birdied the tough par-four seventh, extending his lead to six shots.
Despite making a double-bogey on the ninth, he would take a four-shot lead into the final nine holes. A birdie on the 12th and only one blemish on the back-nine meant Schmid would have four putts from the back of the 18th green to win the biggest tournament of his amateur career.
Two-putts were all that was needed for Schmid to card a final round 70, finish on 15-under-par, and become just the second German player to win the European Amateur Championship.
"I can't believe that right now, I haven't played in any high level professional events, so to have this as my first one, it's unbelievable," Schmid said of his ticket for The Open. "I didn't make many mistakes which was the key."
Walker earned his second runner-up finish in as many weeks, having lost to Mallow’s James Sugrue in the final of the Amateur Championship at Portmarnock. He shot a 66 to finish second on 12-under but will have a final chance to make it to Royal Portrush in Final Qualifying for The Open at Fairmont St Andrews next Tuesday, where there will be three places up for grabs over 36 holes.
Three players finished in a tie for third. England's Ben Jones, who lost out in the semi-final of The Amateur Championship to Walker last week, was awarded the bronze medal on a 36-hole countback. Austrian, Maximilian Steinlechner, who featured in the final pairing with Schmid, and Englishman, Joe Long, were the other two players to finish on nine-under-par.
Jerry Ji, who was awarded the bronze medal in last year's championship, nearly repeated the feat this week. The Dutch player finished on eight-under-par in a tie for sixth. Akshay Bhatia, the second highest ranked player in the field, earned a top-10 finish after a two-under-par 70 in the final round got him to six-under for the tournament.
Rafferty continued his excellent form with a final round 69 worth a share of sixth as Tom McKibbin shot 72 to share 47th on three-over and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell a 77 to slip to 57th on seven-over.
European Amateur Championship, Diamond Country Club, Austria (Par 72)
1 Matthias Schmid (Ger) -15 67 73 63 70 273
2 Euan Walker (SCO) -12 70 72 68 66 276
T3 Benjamin Jones (ENG) -9 69 73 69 68 279
T3 Maximilian Steinlechner (AUT) -9 70 71 64 74 279
T3 Joseph Long (ENG) -9 67 70 68 74 279
T6 Jiri Zuska (CZE)-8 71 72 69 68 280
T6 Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) -8 67 74 70 69 280
T6 Jerry Ji (NED) -8 68 69 70 73 280
9 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (DEN) -7 69 70 72 70 281
T101 Adrien Pendaries (FRA) -6 70 71 74 67 282
T10 Ludvig Åberg (SWE) -6 70 75 69 68 282
T10 Akshay Bhatia (USA) -6 70 74 68 70 282
Other Irish
T47 Tom McKibbin (Holywood) +3 72 76 71 72 291
T58 Conor Purcell (Portmarnock) +7 71 73 74 77 295
MC Mark Power(Kilkenny) +4 67 76 77 220
MC Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene) +4 74 68 78 220
MC John Murphy (Kinsale) +6 76 74 72 222
MC Ronan Mullarney (Galway) +6 76 71 75 222
MC Rowan Lester (Hermitage) +17 76 78 79 233
