5 amateur golfers including Christo Lamprecht, who amazed fans with their stunning play at the Open Championship
South African amateur Christo Lamprecht is surprisingly leading the first round of The Open Championship, with a score of -5. It is an impressive result, even though more than half of the field still has to finish the day.
But Christo Lamprecht is not the only amateur player who has made an excellent impression on the first day of the last major of the season. Five other non-professionals are included in the field, and, at least, four of them have left flashes of their quality.
Let's take a look at what these five amateurs have done so far.
#1: Christo Lamprecht
Christo Lamprecht, 22, left a five-under 66, impressing all the specialists and followers of the sport early on. He is currently tied for first place with the more established Tommy Fleetwood.
Christo Lamprecht's round was very good, with a bogey-free front nine and three birdies. On his final nine holes, he bogeyed twice, but managed five birdies.
Christo Lamprecht is a junior at Georgia Tech University and has had a great career in amateur golf, with six wins, including The Amateur Championship in 2023, which gave him access to The Open Championship.
At Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Christo Lamprecht is making his major tournament debut. So far, he's doing it in style.
#2: Alex Maguire
Ireland's Maguire, 22, was also solid in his game, carding three birdies and two bogeys. The Florida Atlantic University senior had only one notable miss on the 14th hole, where he made a double bogey that has him at T41.
Maguire is also making his full tournament debut in majors. He has been the champion of the East of Ireland Amateur Championship for two consecutive years and secured his place in The Open by being the player who performed best in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, Amateur Championship and European Amateur Championship.
#3: Jose Luis Ballester Barrio
The 19-year-old Spaniard was playing the first round for an even par until the 12th hole. On the 13th, he had his real complication, when he made a double bogey. He then had two bogeys, but was able to recover with two birdies, one of them closed the round.
He finished the first day of his debut in the majors with a score of +2, tied for 86th place, for the moment.
Ballester is a sophomore at Arizona State University. He has won eight tournaments as an amateur, all of them in Spain and Europe, including at the 2023 European Amateur.
#4: Harrison Crowe
Australian Harrison Crowe, 21, is, so far, the fourth highest-ranked amateur player at The Open Championship. At the 15th hole, he had a score of +4, ranked 126th.
Crowe struggled with some problems on the front nine, where he made three bogeys and was unable to make any birdies. So far on the back nine, the Aussie has tried to close the gap with two pars and a birdie, but has already made two bogeys.
Harrison Crow was the champion of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last October.
#5: Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
The fifth best placed amateur is Argentina's Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira who, at the 12th hole, has a score of +4. However, his only problems were on holes three and four, with one double bogey and one triple bogey.
The rest of the round went well for him, with eight pars and a birdie. We will see how he progresses throughout the rest of the day.