South of Ireland Amateur: Four left standing at Lahinch

Connor Graham's run has ended. The Blairgowrie medalist fell 2 & 1 to Thomas Higgins of Roscommon in the Round of 16, unable to extend his momentum into a third consecutive match-play victory.

Saturday's two elimination rounds trimmed the field to four. Josh Hill defeated David Howard 2 & 1 in the quarterfinals, while Tomi Bowen of Welshpool beat Ciaran Murphy by the same margin. Thomas Higgins edged Ben Gratzl 1 up, and Sean David of Pyle and Kenfig outlasted Freddie Turnell 1 up to round out the final four.

Sunday morning's semi-finals pit Howard against Bowen at 8:30 a.m., with Gratzl facing David at 8:45. The final is set for the afternoon.

Match play is underway at the South of Ireland Amateur Championship, with the field trimmed to the final 16 after two rounds of head-to-head competition at Lahinch Golf Club, host of this September's Walker Cup.

The player to watch remains Connor Graham of Blairgowrie, who carried his momentum from stroke-play qualifying into match play. Graham, who fired a dazzling 10-under 62 in the second qualifying round to earn medalist honors, opened with a commanding 6-and-5 victory over David Reddan before surviving a much sterner test in the Round of 32, edging Morgan Cain 1 up. Graham is expected to represent Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup at Lahinch later this year, making him one of the marquee names in the championship.

Former Irish Close champion Matthew McClean advanced with consecutive victories, defeating Andrew Mulholland 1 up before knocking out England's Samuel Easterbrook 2 up. Josh Hill won 4-and-3 in the opening round before cruising 6-and-4 over Rory Gallagher. Other players advancing include Ben Bolton, Stuart Grehan, Matthew Dodd-Berry, Freddie Turnell, David Kitt, and Jack McDonnell, whose pair of one-up victories highlighted just how tightly contested the matches have become.