Dad leads race to first title

THE long-term script hints Emile Thompson will one day be the island golf champion in his family. His handicap is down to five and the lad shows enormous promise.

For now, aged 16, he is happy to carry the bag for his dad, the three-figure outsider for this week's Deutsche Bank Guernsey title who, against the odds, is through to the last eight and faces a quarter-final against Nigel Vaudin.

In the biggest shock of second round night, Chris Thompson dumped out the fourth seed, Steve Mahy.

Thompson has never played better in island championship week and although he received a leg-up from his opponent on an idyllic evening down on the L'Ancresse common, he played good, virtual par golf to win through 5 and 4.

Thompson won the first four holes and would have made it five on the bounce had he not missed an eight-footer on the fifth.

Mahy, who had started the match by losing a ball and finding out of bounds on the first two holes, knew he was in trouble long before the turn and his concern reached crisis proportions when Thompson birdied the ninth and then won 10 in extraordinary fashion.

Thompson explained: 'I had a birdie putt from 20 feet which lipped out. He said bad luck, but I thought he had said okay and picked up the ball.

'It was a genuine misunderstanding.

Thompson duly did, holed his putt and with Mahy missing his par putt Thompson moved six clear.

At the top end of the draw top seed Bobby Eggo squeezed through 2 and 1 against Neil Tanguy, who not so many years ago caused a shock of more seismic proportions than Thompson's win, to put out the former Walker Cup star.

They were level playing 16 and another upset was possible, but Eggo drove the green and birdied to go one up and did exactly the same at the 17th to clinch the match.

Eggo now plays Nigel Le Noury, another of the four past or present champions left in the competition.

Le Noury beat David Nicolle 3 and 2 despite falling below the standard which had been too good for Laurence Graham in the cold, wind and rain 24 hours' earlier.

'I struggled today . . . I just wasn't solid tonight,' said Le Noury who has never beaten Eggo in the island championships.

At the other end of the draw Danny Bisson beat a determined Craig Allen 3 and 2, clinching the match with an eagle two at the 16th.

The second seed now plays Jack Mitchell, the 2004 junior champion who put out Ian Thomas 4 and 3.

David Rowlinson, the defending champion, is also through after beating Luke Blondel, and now plays Andy Eggo who was involved in the longest match of the evening.

Eggo finally won on the fourth extra hole when his opponent paid the penalty for finding a bush and lost it to a bogey.

'I'm off for a putting lesson,' said a relieved winner.