GOLF/West of Ireland Amateur Championship: So, you want to know how the face of amateur golf has changed? Yesterday, as the West of Ireland continued the whittling process to leave just four men standing, the new generation showcased their class.

Rory McIlroy, in between on-course yoga sessions, and David Horsey, a classy and welcome interloper from England, emerged from the top half of the draw to set up as appetising a semi-final as this championship has had in recent years.

In contrast to the hype and appeal of McIlroy and Horsey, who had finished their quarter-finals of the Radisson SAS-sponsored championship before the potentially damaging finishing stretch of holes down by the bay, Andrew McCormick and Paul O'Hanlon were forced to fight a good deal harder to book their places in the semi-finals.

McCormick beat Irish Youths' champion Séamus Power 2 and 1, finishing off the match with a superb up-and-down for par on the 17th, after his approach had finished in the dunes.

O'Hanlon, meanwhile, was four up after seven holes on international Darren Crowe, but also had to go to the 17th before finishing off his opponent.

On a day when a stiff and constant wind blew across this fabulous old course, a links where greats like Ewing and Carr and McGimpsey have exhibited their craft, McIlroy and Horsey, the lowest handicapped players in the field, were immune to any hint of an upset, and produced a series of fine shots and demonstrated fortitude beyond their years to march on.

"Rory's playing good, it'll be a good game," said Horsey, the 21-year-old English County Champions' champion.

"I'm here to play golf, not to attract attention. I'll go out looking to win, to put the ball in play and to hole some putts," he added of the philosophy he intends to bring into a head-to-head with Irish champion McIlroy, who at the ripe old age of 16 has already amassed an army of fans.

In yesterday morning's third round, Gerry McIlroy - caddie to his son - had noticed Rory's swing had speeded up ever so slightly. The information was passed on, and the player made the necessary adjustment in mid-round, eventually going on to beat Rathsallagh's Thomas O'Neill 4 and 3.

A potential banana skin awaited, though. McIlroy's quarter-final opponent was Connor Doran, with whom he rooms on interprovincial and international duty.

"I expected a tough game. I know Connor really well, and knew I had to be up for it," said McIlroy, who considers himself "a better player all-round" than when he captured this title a year ago.

The object of his match with Doran was to get off to a fast start, to put his opponent on the back foot.

Which is what he did. McIlroy was three-up through six holes.

On the par five third hole, he demonstrated his sheer class. Faced with 226 yards to the flag, into the wind, he played a "cutty three-wood" approach. The ball finished two-and-a-half feet from the hole.

An even better shot, if that were possible, came on the par four sixth, where from 195 yards he hit a rescue club in to five feet to set up a winning birdie.

After that, the main thing was to keep the door closed on Doran, which he did, eventually winning by 4 and 3 for the second time in the day. "That's the best I've played so far this week, the best ball-striking round I've had," he admitted.

In between his matches, McIlroy, who has taken up yoga to increase his flexibility, had undergone a session, and felt his muscles tighten midway through his match with Doran. The answer? A few yoga stretches in between shots on the 12th.

Horsey also showed his class. Having defeated Dungarvan's Kevin Stack in the third round, Horsey, who has ambitions to play in next year's Walker Cup at Royal County Down, then accounted for Randall Evans 5 and 4 in the quarter-finals. The high point came when Horsey holed a wedge shot for a eagle two at the second.

He was an estimated three-under, and six-up, on Evans at the turn. It was a case of coasting home thereafter.

O'Hanlon, the leading qualifier in the strokeplay phase, had also looked set for a comfortable win when he went four up on Crowe after six holes. But Crowe is renowned as a tough campaigner and won the eighth, 10th and 13th holes to reduce the deficit to one hole.

However, O'Hanlon stopped the rot by winning the 14th, and then halving the succeeding holes to close out the match on the 17th.