Ireland will be represented by six players when the opening matchplay stages of the British Amateur Championship get under way this morning at Royal Birkdale, outside Liverpool.
But one significant absentee will be West of Ireland champion Rory McIlroy. The 16-year-old from Holywood Golf Club had set himself up perfectly with a 72 in Monday's opening round, but he crashed to an eight-over-par 80 over the Southport course yesterday to finish well out side the cut for the matchplay.
But Darren Crowe of Dunmurry, who added a one-under-par 71 at Southport to his opening 69 at Birkdale, and North West's Brian McElhinney, who was one over par at Royal Birkdale yesterday after a three-under 69 on Monday, finished tied for third place on two-under-par 140.
The other Irish to get in were Sean McTernan of Co Sligo four shots further back after two rounds of 72, and three players on 146: Mervyn Owens of Mallow (70 76), Michael McGeady of North West (72 74) and Richard Kilpatrick of Banbridge (75 71).
Damian Ulrich, a 22-year-old from near Zurich in Switzerland, claimed that he played better for his two-under-par round of 68 at Royal Birkdale yesterday than when he scored a five-under-par 67 at Southport and Ainsdale on Monday, but his total of 135 put him clear at the head of the qualifiers.
Despite the benign conditions, a five-over-par total for the 36 holes of qualifying was enough to make the cut, the axe falling on 147.
That brought defending champion Stuart Wilson back into the reckoning after rounds of 75 72, and offered the chance of a third title to Gary Wolstenholme, the winner in 1991 and 2003. After returning a 146 total early yesterday he rated his chance of beating the cut as nil.
Ulrich, whose boss at an import company allows him 50 per cent time off to play golf, hit 15 greens in regulation, but his form on the greens was not as sharp as Monday when he had only 24 putts, holing birdie opportunities of up to 30 feet.
He leads by four shots from James Ruth of Tavistock, who birdied three of Birkdale's tough par threes.
"The weather was kind to us and I putted well," he commented after his round of 67 gave him an aggregate of 139.
The leading 64 and ties now go into the match play stages of the championship over the Royal Birkdale course, with a series of 18-hole matches culminating in a 36-hole final on Saturday.