Irish champion Shane Lowry and Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney were the only Irishmen to make the cut in the Lytham Trophy.

Teenage dynamo Rory McIlroy is targeting a rare double in the AIB Irish Amateur Open at Portmarnock.

This year’s Open championship is likely to be the acid test for the Royal and Ancient Club, golf’s ruling body outside America, on whether something has to be done to limit how far the game’s top professionals now hit the ball.