Fanagan, Lawrie in

JODY FANAGAN and Peter Lawrie will carry Irish hopes when the match play stages of the British Amateur Golf championships begin…

JODY FANAGAN and Peter Lawrie will carry Irish hopes when the match play stages of the British Amateur Golf championships begin at Royal St George's this morning.

And both have the perfect opportunity to force their way into the Walker Cup picture.

Milltown's Fanagan, who played in the winning 1995 Walker Cup team, added a 75 at Royal Cinque Ports yesterday to his opening round of 76 at St George's for a 151 aggregate, five strokes inside the qualifying mark.

University College, Dublin, student, Lawrie, the Irish champion, produced one of the rounds of the day at St George's to finish on 154.

After a first round 83, Lawrie required a substantial improvement and did not disappoint: three bogeys and two birdies make it a round of 71.

The leading qualifier on 145, three over par, was the Australian born English international Matt Carver.

The only other Irish players in the field, Brian O'Melia and Chris Devlin, failed to break through the qualifying score of 156.

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