R&A: 'Nguyen Anh Minh makes history at The Amateur Championship'

TPO - R&A - the organization that governs rules, tournaments and develops global golf - called Nguyen Anh Minh "the one who made history at The Amateur Championship" when he became the first Vietnamese golfer to participate in this prestigious tournament.

Nguyen Anh Minh made his mark at The Amateur Championship 2025.

In a live report on its homepage, R&A emphasized that Nguyen Anh Minh made history by becoming the first Vietnamese golfer to participate in The Amateur Championship.

"The 17-year-old produced an impressive opening round of 68 (-2) at Royal St George's, before shooting 73 (+1) at Royal Cinque Ports to maintain a two-round total of -1," the R&A wrote.

The Amateur Championship, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious tournaments for amateur golfers, took place from June 16-22, bringing together 288 golfers from 45 countries around the world to compete.

In the two-day stroke play qualifying round, Anh Minh shot 68 (-2) at Royal St George's and 73 (+1) at Royal Cinque Ports, achieving a total score of -1 after 36 holes. This achievement placed Anh Minh in the group of 60 with 23 other golfers.

According to the tournament format, only the 64 golfers with the best scores will qualify for the match play round. Therefore, a play-off of 24 golfers was held to determine the final 5 spots to the next round.

The play-offs were played in a straight-elimination format on holes 1 and 18 at Royal St George's. Golfers were divided into four groups of six, playing one after the other until five players were selected to advance.

Despite his great effort and determination, Nguyen Anh Minh was not among the top 5 golfers who qualified for the match round, including: Mads Viemose Larsen (Denmark), Filippo Ponzano (Italy), Gaven Lane (USA), Stijn Egging (Netherlands) and Rintaro Nakano (Japan).

Nguyen Anh Minh's journey at The Amateur Championship 2025 ended after a dramatic play-off match. Although he could not advance, his impressive performance, especially his opening round of 68, left a strong impression.

Being able to participate in one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the world, competing on equal terms with top talents from golf powerhouses, is an important milestone in Nguyen Anh Minh's journey to maturity, creating a solid step forward on the path towards professionalism in the future.

Ethan Fang's dramatic coronation

In the tournament that just ended, Ethan Fang (sophomore at the University of Oklahoma) won the championship after a thrilling 1-up victory over Gavin Tiernan (sophomore at the University of East Tennessee) thanks to the decisive birdie on hole 36 at Royal St George's.

With this victory, Fang became the first American golfer to win The Amateur Championship since Drew Weaver in 2007. The sophomore also became the first Oklahoma State golfer to win this title since the legendary Bob Dickson.

Ethan Fang won The Amateur Championship 2025.

The legendary Dickson is the last man to win both The Amateur Championship and the US Amateur in the same year, a feat Fang has every chance of repeating when he enters the US Amateur next August at the Olympic Club, San Francisco.

With this victory, Ethan Fang receives a wild card to play in the 153rd The Open Championship at Royal Portrush next month, as well as The Masters 2026 and the US Open 2026 at Shinnecock Hills. In addition, he has also been invited to play in the Betfred British Masters on the DP World Tour.

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ra-nguyen-anh-minh-viet-nen-lich-su-tai-the-amateur-championship-post1753389.tpo