Ben Campbell stays alive at Australian amateur

New Zealand No 1 Ben Campbell stylishly removed the threat of elimination from the Australian amateur golf championships by recording one of the stand-out final qualifying rounds in Melbourne.

A two-time runner-up, Campbell shaved eight shots off his opening round 78 at Huntingdale on Tuesday to guarantee inclusion in the 64-strong match play component.

The men's and women's competitions are staged at two courses in Melbourne's sand belt and Campbell found the Woodlands layout more to his liking as he carded a two-under 70 to make the necessary climb up the leader board from a share of 63rd.

While Campbell made a dramatic improvement to be ranked 20th when the field was culled from 216, fellow-New Zealander Vaughan McCall was a picture of consistency.

He added a 71 to his opening 72 to position him as the leading non-Australian and the fifth highest qualifier.

Campbell has drawn Tasmanian Cory Crawford while McCall is pitted against John Yim (NSW) who just crept inside the cut.

Blair Riordan was the second best New Zealander, finishing in a share of 10th with a 68 complementing his opening round 77 - he will battle Irishman Niall Gorey for a place in the second round.

Reigning New Zealand amateur champion Mathew Perry prolonged his stay but faces a tricky assignment against 14th-ranked Tasmanian Ryan McCarthy.

Jonny Ratcliffe and Daniel Pearce are also underdogs against Jimmy Mullen (England) and Nathan Holman from Victoria.

Reigning Australian stroke play champion Cameron Smith topped the field with rounds of 73 and 68 to finish qualifying at 3-under.

In the women's competition Lydia Ko, the world's No.1 amateur, also improved markedly on her first-up 76 at Huntingdale to card a two-under 71 on Woodlands and qualify second behind Victoria's Breanna Elliott, the only player to finish with a sub-par two round total.

Ko's close friend Cecilia Cho, the world No 3, finished in a tie for third with a 3-over tally of 149.

The adopted Koreans are expected to eliminate Jacinta Brideson and Montana Strauss respectively.

Emily Perry and Julianne Alvarez were also snug inside the top 32 and meet the higher ranked Su-Hyun Oh (Victoria) and Japan's Kotone Hori.

A bogey-riddled 11-over 84 fortunately did not prove fatal for Chantelle Cassidy who slumped after starting yesterday in a five-way share of sixth. But she will have to rediscover her touch to threaten Grace Lennon, the eighth-placed qualifier.

- © Fairfax NZ News