Battling Lewis beaten in semi-final of English Amateur Champs, Sat 31st Jul
Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) battled his way through to the semi-finals of the English Amateur Championship before being beaten by his England team-mate Tommy Fleetwood at Long Aston on July 30.


Lewis shot level par 144 in the qualifying 36 holes. He was joined in the knock-out stages by Sam Claridge (Harpenden Common), Matt Wallace (Batchworth Park) and Ryan Newman (Brookmans Park), who all shot 2-over 146.

Claridge and Newman lost in the preliminary round of the knock-out stages, and Wallace was beaten in the first round.

But Lewis, who also had to play in the preliminary knock-out round, won 5 knock-out rounds before meeting Fleetwood in the semi-final.

In front of a large crowd, Fleetwood and Lewis produced some stunning golf over the front nine befitting their reputations and their status within the amateur game. Play became a bit scrappy after the turn, no doubt reflecting a tough, relenting week.

"I'm relieved," said Fleetwood. "I know Tom well. We were foursomes partners in the European Championships and I was on my knees going out this afternoon. But I just had to keep my head down and managed to get the job done. I knew that if I could shoot under par I would be hard to beat but I got a bit nervous on the back nine. I just hope now that I can win a national final. I've been in three and lost them all."

Lewis rued the fact that his best game deserted him when he needed it most, especially when he got off to a flying start by winning the first two holes, one with a birdie. But Fleetwood got back on track with three successive birdies to go in front and he went 2up at the sixth when Lewis found the bushes then sand.

At the par four eighth, Lewis took three from the back fringe to fall further behind and from then on he was fighting an uphill battle. He got back to 2down with a birdie-three at the tenth but was unable to make further inroads as both players produced some scrappy holes, including a half in sixes at the long 12th.

Still 2down playing the 17th, Lewis had a 20-footer to stay alive and when he knocked his putt six feet past he shook Fleetwood's hand.

"Tommy played good golf but I hit a lot of wild shots," said Lewis. "I hope he goes on and wins and rounds off his amateur career in style. I got off to a good start but I gave away some holes and you can't do that with someone like Tommy. But it just didn't happen for me."