LEADING qualifier Connor McKinney made it through to Friday’s second round of matchplay at the 93rd Boys’ Amateur Championship, at Saunton.

McKinney, the Australian-based Scot, defeated Worthing Golf Club’s Billy Groom 6&4, on the North Devon links.

It was a convincing victory for McKinney, who said it was important to limit mistakes in windy conditions, with birdie opportunities hard to come by on the East Course.

McKinney said: “A 6&4 win is generally good for the confidence so I am looking forward to the next round.

“With this wind you can’t go for too much or miss in the wrong spots so it was a case of hitting into the middle of the greens or even away from flags because the wind was so strong.

“I wasn’t really aggressive today, but I also wasn’t defensive. I only had two birdies and a bogey out there.

“It was just one of those days where there wasn’t a lot of birdies out there and if you made a lot of pars you were going to be close.”

The 17-year-old will now play Southport & Ainsdale’s Matthew Jackman, who claimed a win over Frenchman Charles Larcelet.

Jackman, who was down by three with five holes to play, fought back to take the match to extra holes, eventually winning with a birdie on the 20th.

“I was three down with five to play,” said Jackman. “Before that I was just trying to stay in the match.

“But I started to come alive and wasn’t as scrappy. I fought hard on 17 and 18 to get it back to all-square after being dormie.

“We both parred the 19^th hole and then on the 20^th hole I ended up making a birdie with Charles making par. It was a big sigh of relief, I couldn’t believe it, I was buzzing.

“It happened to me last year too, I was four down through five in my first match and ended up winning on the last, so this does boost my confidence,” added the teenager from Lancashire.

“I have always had the fight in me so it should be a good match with Connor. I’ll try to play as I have done today, keep grinding away and not let Connor being the highest-ranked qualifier affect me.”

Wales’ Archie Davies, who was tied second in the strokeplay qualifying, reached the second round after forcing Spaniard Alvaro Morales Aparicio into extra holes.

The door opened for the Welsh Amateur Champion on the 18^th hole when his opponent missed a five-foot putt.

Davies, who plays out of Carlisle GC, then went on to make a birdie on the 20^th hole to seal the win.

He will play Ireland’s Sean Doyle after he also required 20 holes to defeat Spain’s Javier Neira Garcia.

Davies said: “It feels pretty good, it was hard fought. If I am honest, I thought it was game over on 18.

“My opponent had a five-footer to win and then he missed and I won on the 20^th, so it was awesome.

“I was pretty nervous on the last putt. I am pleased I got it over with. I always thought I had the edge but it was tricky.

“I think I still have that confidence from the Welsh Amateur win so I hope to keep it going. ”

Having elected to skip the US Amateur Championship to compete in his final R&A Boys Amateur Championship, Florida-based Joseph Pagdin was relieved to advance into the last 32.

After 18 holes the Lake Nona member, who is the highest-ranked player in the field, was all-square with Sweden’s Rasmus Hjelm.

Chipping out of the thick rough on the par-five second, the 20^th hole of the match, Pagdin made a clutch up-and-down birdie to keep his name in the hat.

The junior international will now play Surrey’s Harry Crockett, who defeated France’s Nathan Trey on the 19th hole.

Pagdin said: “It was a great battle with Rasmus we had four or five birdies throughout the round, he had one bogey.

“That was one of the toughest matches I have had in a long time.

“I got a bit lucky on the last, I was able to get free relief from an animal hole but I still made birdie.

“I am ranked 30^th on the WAGR so I was in the US Amateur. But I took the view that I was here playing the Boys’ Home Internationals for England – and I have been – playing great this summer in matchplay.

“I love this event, the way its run so I wanted to give it my last shot,” Pagdin added.

“I knew I had a good chance to go deep into this tournament and I am going to have many more years to play at the US Amateur.

“I just love coming back here and hopefully I can get it done.”

Frenchman Tom Gueant, who led qualifying after the first round, recorded a convincing 5&4 victory over Delamare Forest’s Oscar Doran.

After a challenging finish on Wednesday, where he dropped six shots in his closing seven holes,Gueant was determined to come out firing in his first round match.

He was five-up after six holes and never looked seriously threatened. Gueant will face Hanbury Manor’s South East Junior Champion Dominic Clemons, who advanced after defeating Italy’s Simone Armando Colozza 5&3.

Gueant said: “I played well on the first nine holes – my driver was still not very good, but I was putting well.

“I was five-up after six holes, right from the beginning I was winning holes and after that I just tried to keep control of myself and my game.

“When the day has been bad, like yesterday, and you have those thoughts in your mind you want to release all of that, and then today it was great.”

Doran’s clubmate James Ashfield fared better winning 6&5 against Czech teenager Krystof Strycek, with Cheshire’s Delamare Forest one of two clubs to have two qualifers in the last 64 – the other was Southport & Ainsdale.

The latter’s George Holland beat Scotland’s Ruben Lindsay to join Jackman in the last 32.

•To follow scores in Friday’s third and fourth rounds click here

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SCOTLAND’S Connor McKinney lead the qualifiers into the matchplay stage of the 93rd R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship, at North Devon’s Saunton Golf Club.

Playing in challenging conditions, McKinney posted an even-par round of 71 on the West Course to finish on five-under par after two rounds.

McKinney was a shot clear of Frenchman Martin Couvra and Welshman Archie Davies as a total of 18 English players made it through to the knockout, including Hallamshire’s Daily Telegraph Junior Champion Barclay Brown, Heysham’s John Wilding and Northamptonshire County’s latest England prospect Joe Quinn, plus three other Scots.

Experiencing a mixed day on course, McKinney’s round was almost derailed by a double bogey seven on the par-five 10^th hole after he hit his drive out of bounds.

However, he held his composure to record four birdies and a bogey on his way into the clubhouse as the leading qualifier.

McKinney said: “It was really windy so that was always going to be a factor. When the rain came it made it really tricky, but I handled my game pretty well and stuck to my plan.

“I stayed committed after a bad start to the back-9, it can really get away from you in that wind.

‘I hit my driver out of bounds on 10 and made double – but I made four birdies in my next six holes, so I really bounced back.

“It gives me an extra bit of confidence going into the matchplay, I know that I have already beaten everyone in the field so I know that I can do it in the match play.”

Finishing as the leading qualifier has filled McKinney with confidence heading into the matchplay, a format in which he is showing form.

He won four-and-a-half out of six matches for Scotland at last week’s &A Boys’ Home Internationals which England won for a fourth year in a row..

Couvra recorded his second 69 in as many days thanks to a birdie on the 18^th hole of Saunton’s East Course.

At 16 years of age Couvra was pleased to go through to the matchplay in his Boys’ Amateur Championship debut.

Couvra said: “This is my first time in this championship. I played very well this week. The rain and the wind was really hard but I still played well.

“I am happy but the matchplay will be a new competition. I will just try and play the same as I have been.

Playing the West Course early on Wednesday, Davies recorded an impressive 67, the lowest round of the day.

It featured five birdies and a lone bogey. The Cumbrian-based Welshman will be one to watch in the knockout having recently won the Welsh Amateur Championship, when he defeated Connor Jones 8&7.

A delighted Davies, who plays his golf at Carlisle GC, said: “I started off while the weather was awful, rain and windy, but I held onto a score early on and pushed on towards the end.

“So I am really pleased with the overall performance.

“I hit the ball better yesterday to be honest but today, around the greens, I was a lot better, a lot sharper and I made some good up and downs quite early on which kept the momentum going.

“I feel like my game has come together pretty well for this championship. I won the Welsh Amateur a couple of weeks ago. I won five matches in that so hopefully I can keep it going again this week.”

Overnight leader Tom Gueant, from France, was bogey-free for his first 29 holes before a triple bogey seven on the 12^th hole on the East, saw him slip down the leaderboard.

Guean recorded a bogey on the par-five 15^th followed quickly by a double bogey six on the 16^th to record a five-over 76.

However, Guean will head into last 64 having qualified tied fourth on three-under alongside another Scot, Cameron Adam, and Sussex’s Habebul Islam, after they recorded even-par second rounds on the East and West Courses respectively.

Also comfortably making the matchplay stage is England’s Florida-based junior international Joseph Pagdin, who is the highest-ranked player in the field.

Pagdin, another member of the Home Internationals-winning team, recorded rounds of 70 and 70 to be two-under-par and tied seventh.

He is joined on the same score by Czech Vaclav Tichy, Norway’s Alexander Settemsdal, Kevin Christopher Jegers, from Estonia, and Spaniard Rodrigo Martin.

The cut fell on four-over with 74 players progressing to the matchplay. Twenty – including four English teenagers and one Scot – will play in Thursday’s preliminary round with the second round commencing later in the morning.

Each match will consist of one round of 18 holes on the East Course before concluding with a 36-hole final, on Sunday.

For the full matchplay draw and scoring visit here. Admission and parking at Saunton are free.

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