Golf: Storm reminder to England selectors

GRAEME STORM issued a timely reminder to the England selectors of the talent they have overlooked this season when he moved into the last 32 of the Amateur Championship at a rain-soaked Royal County Down course in Northern Ireland yesterday.

The 21-year-old from the Wynyard club could not have achieved his success in more emphatic fashion, beating the experienced England international and Walker Cup player Gary Wolstenholme of Kilworth Springs 4 and 3.

Storm played for his county in a friendly international against France last spring but was dropped for the Home Internationals in the autumn and not recalled to the side which beat Spain 16-8 earlier this year. He was behind in the early stages, but as soon as he had turned the deficit into a two-hole lead by the sixth the momentum of the match swung his way, and he gradually pulled away from Wolstenholme before closing the match out on the 15th green.

"There's no doubt this is a very big win for me - it was like a final," Storm said. "When I saw the draw I was thrilled even though I knew it would be a hard game because Gary is such a great competitor. I knew he wanted to win this badly - but so do I."

Storm will now face East Berkshire's Steven Barwick in today's third round, Barwick having posted a similar 4 and 3 winning margin over the Edinburgh golfer Oliver Lindsay, of the Royal Burgess club.

Elsewhere in head-to-head play, the best recovery was staged by America's Tom McKnight, the runner-up in last year's US Amateur Championship after beating Sergio Garcia in the semi-finals. The 44-year-old Virginian beat his countryman, Gene Elliott, by winning the last four holes to snatch victory.