No joy for Irish in US Open Sectionals, Mehaffey suffers wrist injury blow
Padraig Harrington hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the second round of the 101st PGA Championship held at Bethpage Black. Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Pádraig Harrington, Michael Hoey, Sean Quinlivan and Seamus Power came up empty handed in Sectional Qualifying for the US Open on Monday.
Hoey shot rounds of 72 and 71 to miss out at Walton Heath where South African Dean Burmester followed a 63 with a 65 to head the 14 qualifiers by four shots on his 30th birthday from England’s Sam Horsfield on 16-under par.
Walton Heath Golf Club Surrey RESULTS
Marcus Fraser, Clément Sordet, Marcus Kinhult, Matthieu Pavon, Lee Slattery, Thomas Pieters, Merrick Bremner and New Zealand amateur Daniel Hillier also qualified before Italy’s Renato Paratore came through a five-man playoff for the last spot.
Paratore defeated Bernd Wiesberger with a birdie on the second extra hole, while Nacho Elvira earned the second alternate spot by defeating Andrea Pavan and Romain Wattel with a birdie at the second extra hole.
Harrington came up just two strokes shy after he carded a pair on one-under 71’s at RattleSnake Point in Ontario, where there were four spots on offer. SCORING
Power was in the mix early in his second round but withdrew with four holes to play after slipping to two-over and now joins Harrington, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell at the RBC Canadian Open.
Quinlivan played at Century Country Club & Old Oaks Country Club in New York but shot rounds of 74 and 73 to finish four strokes outside a playoff for the last of four spots on six-over. SCORING
There were 10 Sectional Qualifiers held at sites in the UK, Canada and the US. See details
Mehaffey to miss Ladies’ British Amateur and Vagliano Trophy with wrist injury
Olivia Mehaffey in action at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, Thursday, April 4, 2019.
In amateur golf, Olivia Mehaffey will miss the Ladies’ British Amateur at her home course, Royal County Down, from June 11-15 and the Vagliano Trophy at Royal St George’s from 28-29 June after breaking a bone in her wrist after suffering a fall on a family hike, she said via Twitter.
She was initially named yesterday in the six-strong squad with Forrest Little’s Julie McCarthy but annouced her injury shortly afterwards.
Her replacement will be named after the Ladies’ British Amateur, which she had targeted ahead of this weekend’s Palmer Cup.
— Olivia Mehaffey (@OliviaMehaffey) June 3, 2019
Hello, World!
Alice Hewson, Lily May Humphreys, Julie McCarthy, Shannon McWilliam, Mehaffey and Isobel Wardle were named in the initial team with two more players to be added following the completion of The Women’s Amateur Championship. The R&A will now name an additional three players.
Mehaffey was the team’s highest ranked player with three victories on the US collegiate circuit including the Bruin Wave Invitational, the Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Norman Regional while Irish international McCarthy won the Clemson Invitational in April.
GB&I are bidding to win the Junior Vagliano Trophy for the first time since the international match for girls was inaugurated in 2011 and Skerries’ Maria Dunne will captain the side for the first time in the match.
The former GB&I international selected Kirkistown Castle’s Beth Coulter, Hannah Darling, Carmen Griffiths, Darcey Harry, Patience Rhodes and Ffion Tynan to play against their counterparts from the Continent of Europe.
The initial GB&I team for the Vagliano Trophy match is:
Alice Hewson, 21, Berkhamsted
Shannon McWilliam, 19, Aboyne
Lily May Humphreys, 17, Stoke-by-Nayland
[Olivia Mehaffey, 21, Royal County Down Ladies] Out injured
Julie McCarthy, 19, Forrest Little
Isobel Wardle, 19, Prestbury
The GB&I team for the Junior Vagliano Trophy match is:
Beth Coulter, 15, Kirkistown Castle
Darcey Harry, 15, The Vale Resort
Hannah Darling,15, Broomieknowe
Patience Rhodes, 15, Burnham & Berrow
Carmen Griffiths, 15, Aboyne
Ffion Tynan, 16, Minchinhampton
