Yuki Survives First-Round Roller-Coaster at Royal Liverpool

Liverpool, England: Yuki Miya is the sole Asia-Pacific survivor heading into round two of match play at The 131st Amateur Championship. 

The New Zealander defeated American Ty Holbrook at the 19th hole after a roller-coaster first-round encounter at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

While Australians Hamish Farquharson and Wesley Hinton suffered narrow losses, Miya needed two clutch putts to keep his maiden European adventure going.

Two-up with three to play, Miya appeared to be coasting through. But he lost the 16th and 17th and then salvaged a half on 18 with a gutsy nine-foot putt to take the contest to extra-time.

At the first hole of sudden-death, Miya and Holbrook both missed the green and pitched to 15 feet. After watching the American miss his attempt, Miya made no mistake with his effort to squeeze through.

Miya said: “I definitely had it going during the round. I think I made six birdies, but I also gave away a few with six bogeys.

“I pushed one right and went out of bounds on 16. Sort of a loss of focus, I guess. I think I got a bit ahead of myself, but it’s good to get it done. No lead is big enough, especially as 17 is such a tough hole.”

In Thursday’s last-32 match, Miya will take on Argentina’s Segundo Oliva Pinto.

Making his first trip to Europe, Miya competed in the Links Trophy at St Andrews last week and also enjoyed a round at Muirfield.

“It was good to get those couple of rounds in. Although I missed the cut (at Links Trophy), it was great learnings. I feel like I brought it here.

“We don’t have too many links courses in New Zealand, so it was definitely new. I think ball control is the biggest thing, and also short game. That’s something I really struggled with last week at St Andrews, and I feel like I’ve done a better job of that this week.”

There was disappointment for Farquharson and Hinton.

Farquharson suffered a one-down loss to American Matt Moloney, while Hinton was defeated 2&1 by Spaniard Sergio Jimenez Romero.

Hinton was one of 10 players who progressed from a 21-man play-off at Hoylake early on Wednesday morning.

The winner of Saturday’s 36-hole final will secure exemptions into The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale next month, the 2027 US Open, and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. 

The first Amateur Championship was held at Hoylake in 1885 where 44 players from 12 clubs competed. Some of golf’s greatest names have triumphed in the event, including Bobby Jones, José María Olazábal and Sergio Garcia. 

The final two days of this year’s event will be broadcast live on R&A TV and YouTube.