Hurley keeps Irish flag flying in Melbourne
West Waterford's Gary Hurley is through to the second round of the Australian Open Amateur Championship in Melbourne.
The Irish international pulled out all the stops in a nip-and-tuck clash to oust highly rated Australian Ben Clemenson on the home green.
He will now face German star Marcel Schneider this morning for a place in the last 16 of this prestigious tournament and, if successful, could meet defending champion Matthew Sieger.
Mourne's Reeve Whitson battled hard but found Englishman Ashley Chesters just that little bit too good and was beaten on the last green.
Niall Gorey, of Muskerry, could do nothing to halt the charge of New Zealander Blair Riordan, who collected seven birdies on his way to a 7&6 triumph.
IRELAND'S Niall Turner and Niall Kearney both made the cut in their efforts to make it onto the Asian Tour following yesterday's second round of the final qualifying phase in Cha Am, Thailand.
Turner added a 73 to his opening 68 for a total of 141, while Kearney finished on 144 after a second 72.
Arnond Vongvanij of Thailand rose from his sick-bed to fire a superb eight-under-par 64 and tie for the lead with England's Guy Woodman (69) on 11-under.
Colombia's Camilo Villegas led the way with American David Toms on nine-under-par in the first round of the Humana Challenge at La Quinta CC in California.
Villegas, starting on the back nine on the Nicklaus course, shot nine birdies, including five in his first seven holes in a flawless 63, and was soon joined with a similar effort by Toms, who was playing the La Quinta course.
Toms' compatriot Ted Potter Jr, picked up five straight birdies from the first and finished a shot off the pace on 64, alongside Sang-Moon Bae and Brandt Snedeker.
Humana Challenge,
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Irish Independent
