Meet the five Scottish golfers who qualified in Amateur Championship - including Connor Graham and Calum Scott

Talented teenager Connor Graham took pride of place by securing the No 1 seeding as five Scottish players progressed to the knockout stage in the 129th Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin.

Impressing people on the ground at the County Donegal venue, Graham produced a polished performance in testing conditions for the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying to claim the top spot by three shots.

The 17-year-old from Blairgowrie had opened with an eye-catching six-under-par on the Old Links on Monday, signing for an eagle and six birdies, including a burst of four on the spin on the front nine.

Connor Graham hits an approach shot during the second stroke-play qualifying round in the 129th Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club in Donegal. Picture: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

In Tuesday’s second circuit, Graham, the 2022 R&A Junior Open winner, then added a one-under-par 71 on the Glashedy Links, mixing four birdies with three bogeys.

“Yeah, definitely very happy with my round in tough conditions,” admitted the Scot, who created history as the youngest-ever to play in the Walker Cup when representing Great Britain & Ireland as a 16-year-old in last year’s contest at St Andrews.

On leading the 64 qualifiers - only Philip Parkin, Warren Bladon and Matteo Manassero have won the stroke-play shoot-out and then gone on to capture the title - he added: “Yeah, it's a big confidence booster. I'm looking forward to getting into the match-play stages and playing some good golf.”

Nairn’s Calum Scott vindicated his position as one of the pre-tournament favourites by also progressing comfortably after posting two level-par efforts, mixing four birdies and four bogeys in both his efforts.

Nairn's Calum Scott, Scotland's top-placed player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, checks his yardage book at Ballyliffin Golf Club. Picture: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

“Yes, it is,” said 20-year-old Scott, who enjoyed a strong finish to the US college season with Texas Tech, in reply to being asked if the wind had been tougher than Nairn in 2021, when he also made it through to the business end of The R&A event. “This was pretty brutal. But I'm happy to be through it in even par. Solid enough to get the first two days done.”

Longniddry 23-year-old James Morgan overcame a double-bogey 7 in his second round to progress on two over, signing for 70-75, while fellow 18-year-olds Sam Mukherjee and Niall Shiels Donegan both underlined their potential by making it through on three over. That left them involved in a play-off involving 19 players for 18 spots but, around 10pm, it was mission accomplished for the Scottish duo.

Earlier, Mukherjee, brother of 2022 Scottish Amateur champion Oli, carded a second-round 71 that contained four birdies while California-based Shiels Donegan showed he’s made of stern stuff by recovering manfully from finding himself four over after just five holes in the first round.

Borderer Jack McDonald agonisingly missed out after a bogey at the last saw the Schloss Roxburghe player come up one short of being involved in the play-off, with Gregor Graham, Connor’s big brother, and Scottish Amateur champion Cameron Adam both making early exits after slumping to matching 80s in the second circuit.