Tiernan blocks out Masters dream to reach Amateur Championship quarter-finals
County Louth’s Gavin Tiernan used all his links experience to battle his way into the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s.
The Baltray star (19), who had to come through pre-qualifying to win his place in the elite field, beat France’s Gaspar Glaudas 3&2 to take his place in the last eight.
“Yeah, very happy, obviously,” said Tiernan, who has just finished his first year at East Tennessee State University. “A little bit of relief, like match play, anything can happen.
“You could be a couple up with a couple to play, and you just never know. Just happy to get into the clubhouse and into the final eight.”
Tiernan, who beat Belgium’s Jarno Tollenaire by two holes in the second round this morning, will face Estonia’s Richard Teder in the quarter-finals. But he's not dreaming yet of winning the title and claiming a dream Masters start next year.
“No, I'm just taking it hole by hole, one shot at a time,” he said. “That's been my motto this week, just one shot at a time.
“No matter how the rest of the tournament goes, once I know that I gave it my all, I think that's all that really matters.”
He credited his Baltray background and his pace putting for his wins over the firm and fast Sandwich links.
“These greens are so undulating that there are a lot of difficult pin positions, so your pace putting needs to be dialled,” he said.
“Also iron play, you need to be very mindful of where you're hitting it on the greens because you could hit it on the green and be in a very tricky spot.
“So hitting it to certain parts of the greens. I feel like my distance control was very good, which I think are all keys to playing this or any golf course well.
“My home course, County Louth, is a links course. The Boys' Amateur is actually there in
August. So I have a lot of experience playing on links. I definitely leaned on that coming down the stretch today.”
Having shot a five-under 67 to finish fourth in pre-qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports, Tiernan finished sixth in 36-hole qualifying on six under after rounds of 65 and 71 and is being careful to conserve energy.
“In the past, if the ball is not coming off right, I'd go and start hitting a load of balls,” he said. “But this week I was really vigilant, making sure I prioritised my rest and my hydration and stuff like that.
“I feel like that's the stuff when it comes down to the very end; that's what makes the difference, rather than hitting an extra 15 or 20 balls on the range.
“I feel like you don't get as much out of that as you do getting more rest or being hydrated.
That's kind of the approach I've taken, and it's definitely benefited me so far.”
He also loves it the test.
“I really like it,” he said. “It kind of plays into my strengths. Like playing away from pins and stuff like that.
“I'd say a lot of the Americans, they're used to kind of target golf and stuff like that, where here you have to run it in or sometimes even leaving it short of a green is better than being above the hole on a green.
“I feel like that plays into my strengths, being able to hit it to middle of the greens and stay l patient with stuff like that.
“It's 100 per cent firmed up today. I've noticed a couple of shots, like short wedges that are releasing 20, 30 yards, even from the fairway.
“You have to change that up a little bit, but you just change your number a little bit. I'm used to it -- again, coming from links,
“I know how to do that, and I'm comfortable doing that. When you're 140 and you're hitting a lob wedge, it feels a bit weird, but I'm used to being able to trust that, and seeing it before and stuff like that definitely helped me this week.”
The Amateur Championship, Royal St George’s
Quarter finals
Ethan Fang (USA) v Callixte Alzas (FRA);
Matthias Lefevre (FRA) v Veikka Viskari (FIN);
Billy Dowling (AUS) v Riccardo Fantinelli (ITA);
Richard Teder (EST) v Gavin Tiernan (Co. Louth).
