By Steve Scott, golf correspondent

DREW WEAVER survived the chaos and the mental turmoil of the shootings at Virginia Tech University in the USA so perhaps it is not surprising than the lean young American looks almost unstoppable at the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham this week.

The second-year student at the college in Blacksburg was only 100 yards away when Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 of his fellow students on April 16 this year.

But his golf has proved a healer of the mental scars and he is certainly playing like a man inspired, defeating two of the championship favourites in double Scottish champion Kevin McAlpine and Ireland’s Simon Ward yesterday.

With Dad John carrying his bag in maroon college colours with a commemorative patch which states “Virginia Tech Remembers 4-16-07,” Weaver was in sensational form in the afternoon fourth round match against McAlpine, with seven-under figures and no bogeys.

Even more surprisingly, this is his first experience of golf outside his home country and of links golf in particular, but he admits to have been inspired by the new experience as well as the nightmare of two months ago.

“I was coming out of a building 100 yards away from the Norris Building, where the shootings occurred, when we first heard the shots,” he recalled. “The next two days I was due to have classes in that building at that same time.

“It was an incredible, terrifying experience. We took refuge in the college library while it was going on and I had my laptop with me, we were getting Emails from the college and watching the internet news as it all happened.

“It was just a surreal thing and I think everyone involved had nightmares for weeks after, and I suppose it will be with us for life now.”

Golf has proved an inspiration to Drew, after he and the VTech college team went to an important regional match only four days after the shootings and won.

“I think we were all just so pumped up with emotion after what happened, and in some respects I’m still running on adrenalin now,” he admitted. “I have my college bag because it’s important that our college gets some positive publicity after what happened, and the patch because it’s always in our thoughts.”

After shooting 80 on Lytham in his first practice round last week, Weaver has got to grips with links golf quickly and admits he is enjoying it immensely.

“You just have to think, think, think all the time and that’s great,” he said. “There’s also the fact that I don’t know most of the guys here and there’s not that intimidation factor, although clearly both Simon and Kevin were both outstanding players.”

McAlpine certainly had no complaints that the better man on the day prevailed, in a match where only one of the 10 holes won was with a par, Weaver having five birdies and an eagle.

“I played pretty well, but Drew just didn’t put a foot wrong, so he went out and won it rather than me losing it,” said the 23-year-old from Alyth.

As McAlpine lost to inspired golf so did championship favourite Lloyd Saltman, the Craigielaw player’s last tilt at the Amateur ending as young Englishman Chris Wood finished the final six holes in four-under to overhaul him.

“I played the same holes in one-under, which is pretty good going at Lytham, but he just played better,” said Saltman.

Two Scots are in the last eight of the championship, but they were probably the two more unlikely of the remaining candidates to survive and will face each other in a quarter-final this morning.

Ross Kellett, from Colville Park in Motherwell, defeated Walker Cup certainty Jamie Moul to win a match against Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay, who came back from two down with four to play to win his fourth round tie against France’s Kenny Le Sager on the second extra hole.

The 19-year-old admitted that Moul, generally accepted as England’s best player of the moment, “probably wasn’t at his best” but took advantage, missing a five footer at the 17th to win but getting down in par from one of Lytham’s fearsome fairway bunkers to close out the tie.

Macaulay didn’t think it was his day when Le Sager holed two huge putts to deny him key-hole wins down the stretch but two pars on extra holes, where the Frenchman hit into a bunker, proved enough for the win.

“I’m mentally shattered after that, but both Ross and I are still in there if only one of us is going to get to the last four,” said the 23-year-old.

The fifth Scot in the fourth round, Craigielaw’s Mark Kerr, believed he didn’t do himself justice against Australia Rick Kulacz, losing 3 and 1in an untidy contest.

Gary Boyd’s defeat in the final fourth round match to another Australian, Tom Stewart, in addition to the exits of Saltman, Moul and McAlpine, means that no player remains from the GB&I Walker Cup training squad in the quarter-final.

Third round results: J Shufflebotham (Prestatyn) bt D Horsey (Styal) 2 holes; T Glissmeyer (USA) bt J Caldwell (Clanedboye) 3 and 2; M Kerr (Craigielaw) bt K Borsheim (Norway) 3 and 2; R Kulacz (Australia) bt F Fritsch (Germany) 2 and 1; D Weaver (USA) bt S Ward (Co Louth) 2 holes; K McAlpine (Alyth) bt D Willett (Rotherham) 2 holes; C Wood (Long Ashton) bt G Yates (Hilton Park) 2 and 1; L Saltman (Craigielaw) bt A Kaleka (France) 3 and 2.

R Kellett (Colville Park) bt M Allen (North Hants) 3 and 2; J Moul (Stoke by Nayland) bt R Blizard (Australia) 3 and 1; K Le Sager (France) bt A Dodt (Australia) 5 and 4; C Macaulay (Tulliallan) bt R Enoch (Truro) 4 and 3; J Campillo (Spain) bt S Uzzell (Hornsea) 7 and 6; A Sullivan (Purley Chase) bt L Goddard (Hendon) 5 and 4; G Boyd (Cherwell Edge) bt S Lowry (Esker Hills) at the 19th; T Stewart (Australia) bt B Evans (Rye) 3 and 2.

Fourth round: Shufflebotham bt Glissmeyer 3 and 2; Kulacz bt Kerr 2 and 1; Weaver bt McAlpine 2 and 1; Wood bt Saltman 1 hole; Kellett bt Moul 1 hole; Macaulay bt Le Sager at the 20th; Campillo bt Sullivan 3 and 1; Stewart bt Boyd 1 hole.