BROWN TAKES NZ PGA AFTER PLAY OFF

Sydneysider Mitchell Brown beat good friend and former roommate, Ashley Hall, from Victoria, at the first hole of sudden-death to claim the New Zealand PGA Championship title at Clearwater today.

Brown started the final round tied for fifth and five shots behind overnight leader, Hall, but when his travelling companion bogeyed the 72nd hole, chipping and two-putting from the front fringe, a play off was required for a third time in the last six years.
 
The 18th again proved Hall’s downfall. On the 72th hole he had left a chip well short and his putt to win stopped a half roll short. This time he charged his first putt from 70 feet and went 8 feet by, his par return again stopping a half roll short whereas Brown chipped to within two feet and safely made his par.
 
The two Australians had finished on seven-under par, Brown firing a final round 68 and Hall, a one-over 73 his worst round of the tournament. A stroke back and alone in third place was the best of the New Zealanders, Grant Moorhead, who was sharing the lead with Hall after 70 holes before bogeying the last two holes.
 
Former Australian Open champion, Stephen Allan (Victoria) and American Joe Affunti were tied fourth on five-under with the second-best Kiwi, Mahal Pearce, on four-under tied for sixth with Australians, Scott Arnold, Andrew Bonhomme and Adam Crawford.
 
New Zealand left-hander, Gareth Paddison, who was just a shot off the lead after 70 holes, had a disastrous triple-bogey, double-bogey finish, losing a ball off the tee on the 71st hole and finding the water down the last.
 
Brown, who finished about 40 minutes before the final group with Hall, Moorhead and Paddison, felt he had a chance of being in a play-off because the final trio faced a fierce southerly over the last four holes.

``They played the last four in the wind and we played only the last hole. If it hadn’t been for the wind they probably wouldn’t have dropped shots. It’s always good when you’re in the clubhouse and guys are coming in for it’s easier to drop shots than make them.’’
 
For the 24-year-old New South Welshman, it was his first professional win since he turned pro a little more than three years ago, but he was sympathetic that it came at the expense of his mate.
 
"He was my roommate for about two years on the Asian Tour and we play practice rounds together.’’
 
The victory also continued Brown’s love affair with New Zealand courses. "I’ve played pretty well here – I won the New Zealand amateur once and was beaten in the final once. Now I’ve come back and won again – I think I should keep coming back,’’ he laughed.

Brown’s final round of 68 included seven birdies, a bogey at the first and a double-bogey at the 13th when his drive bounced off a cart path and found the water. After 66 holes he shared the lead at seven-under with Hall, Moorhead and Paddison.

Hall, who had led the tournament by seven shots during the third round, said it had been a battle towards the end, especially as the wind hit near the end, but he added that he hadn’t played well enough and he made the cardinal sin of leaving vital putts at the 72nd and play-off hole a half roll short.
 
Moorhead had four birdies and three bogeys, the ones at 17th and 18th most costly. His par putt at 17 grazed the hole and he found a fairway bunker at the last, his explosion shot catching the lip and making little progress. His third was on the green and his 20-foot par putt to make it a three-way play-off just slid by.

"That’s the sort of course it is. You don’t have to do a lot wrong to make bogeys but I’m pleased I had no double-bogeys on the card all week.’’

PUTTING UPSIDE FOR WAITE

A final round of five-under 67 with no three-putts in the final round of the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater today has left 45-year-old New Zealand professional Grant Waite delighted with his decision to putt left-handed.

After putting right-handed throughout his long career and struggling for confidence on the greens for most of those years, Waite determined the Clearwater tournament would mark his arrival as a left-handed putter.

And what a success it proved. He had just one three-putt – at the 10th in the third round – and he said he couldn’t recall when he last achieved that.

MOORHEAD IN SHARE OF LEAD AT NZ PGA

New Zealander Grant Moorhead has moved into the joint lead at seven under with Australian Mitchell Brown with eight holes remaining in the final round of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater, Christchurch, today.
 
Brown has been the big mover, having started the day in a tie for fifth, five shots off the lead. After a bogey at the first, he had five birdies through the next 10 holes to push him to the top of the leaderboard. Moorhead has had three birdies, including a 20m bomb at the par 4 third, and a bogey.
 
One shot behind is overnight leader Australian Ashley Hall, who has had three bogeys and a birdie,  and New Zealander Gareth Paddison, one under for the round with three birdies and two bogeys.
 
The best round of the day was from New Zealander Grant Waite, whose five under has lifted him from a tie for 23rd to seventh equal.

NEW ZEALANDERS MAKE MOVE AT NZ PGA

New Zealanders Grant Moorhead and Gareth Paddison have picked up one shot on overnight leader, Australian Ashley Hall, after four holes in the final round of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater, Christchurch, today.
 
Moorhead was within one of Hall after two birdies in the first three holes, before a bogey at the par 3 fourth dropped him back into a tie with Paddison, who birdied the fourth after a bogey 5 on the third hole. Hall had an early birdie on the second but gave that back with a bogey on the next hole to remain at eight under.
 
Paddison and Moorhead are at six under, with former Australian Open champion Stephen Allan at five under. New Zealander Grant Waite has had a fine start to his final round being three under through 12, the day’s equal best round, improving him from a tie for 23rd to 12th equal.

HALL KEEPS THREE-SHOT LEAD IN NZ PGA

Australian Ashley Hall will carry the three-shot lead he held after 36 holes of the New Zealand PGA Championship into the final round at Clearwater tomorrow, but midway through the third round he was in a far more commanding position.
 
With eight holes to play, the sturdy 26-year-old Victorian was seven shots clear, four-under through 10 holes and feeling completely at easy and in control. One hole later his lead was cut by three shots when he double-bogeyed the par-3 174m 11th hole and playing partner, New Zealand left-hander Gareth Paddison, birdied it.
 
When Hall bogeyed the par-13th his lead was reduced to three over Paddison and the third member of the final group, Canterbury’s Anthony Doyle, who had birdied the 12th. The gap stayed the same with Hall and Paddison finishing with five pars, but Doyle lost contact on the last with a horrendous triple-bogey.

Leader falters at NZ PGA Championships

Overnight leader Ashley Hall, having opened up a seven shot lead after 10 holes of today’s third round, has dropped three shots in three holes, while chasers, the kiwi trio of Grant Moorhead, Anthony Doyle and Gareth Paddison have closed to within three shots of the Victorian at the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater, Christchurch.
 
Hall, having birdied four of his first 10 holes to get to 11 under, then double bogeyed the Par 3  11th and dropped a further shot at the difficult Par 4 13th. Meanwhile the three chasing New Zealanders have all had birdies early in the second nine.
 
Hall leads at eight under, followed by Doyle, Paddison and Moorhead at five under with Australian Mitchell Brown alone in fifth place at four under.
 
The southerly conditions that have prevailed over the last two days has abated slightly.

Overnight leader opens break on field at NZ PGA Championships

Overnight leader Ashley Hall has picked up birdies at the third, fourth and fifth holes to open up a six-shot lead during the early stages of the third round of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater, Christchurch.
 
Three clear overnight, Hall has New Zealander Gareth Paddison as his nearest challenger, at four under. Canterbury’s Anthony Doyle, who was lying second overnight, has dropped one shot today and is back in a tie for third with fellow kiwi Grant Moorhead, Australians Stephen Allan and Mitchell Brown, and American Joe Affrunti, who was three under for his round today.
 
Grant Waite has also dropped a shot and has slipped to level par and tied for 16th behind countrymen Bradley Iles (-1 through six) and Mahal Pearce, who birdied 10, 11 and 12 to be two under for his round and one under for the tournament.

CONDITIONS TEST AFTERNOON GOLFERS AT NZ PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Blustery southerly winds and squally showers turned the afternoon round of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater, Christchurch, into a procession, all chasing morning leader, Australian Ashley Hall.
 
Hall went to lunch at seven under (68-69), two clear of New Zealander Mathew Holten, yet to tee off, and a further shot ahead of Anthony Doyle (71-69), also in the clubhouse and three afternoon starters, Australians Craig Hasthorpe, Jason Norris and Peter Wilson.
 
Such were the conditions that the first six players at the end of the day’s play all had morning rounds. Only one player managed to break par in the afternoon compared with five in the morning, attesting to the difficult and deteriorating weather.

WAITE MAKES CORRECT PUTTING CALL

Grant Waite’s decision to switch from putting right-handed to left-handed has paid an instant dividend, the United States Kiwi professional not having one three-putt in his first two rounds of the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater.

The sweet-swinging Waite has seen countless potentially low rounds ruined by poor putting in the last decade and he made the call at the end of last year to reinvent himself as a left-handed putter, the Clearwater event being his first tournament test.

After 36 holes he has an A pass, and despite the dreadful conditions which prevailed for his afternoon round, Waite was buoyant after holing his longest putt of the day on the last – from 18 feet – to finish with a two-over 74.
 
Coupled with an opening three-under 69, Waite was at one-under par 143 in a share of 10th place, six shots behind Victorian Ashley Hall, but very much in contention.
 
``It was pretty nasty out there and all about surviving and putting up a score to stay in the tournament. ``It was good, I made a couple of nice par-saving putts and missed one short birdie putt. But I had no three-putts again and that’s really big for me.
 
``The speed is still not quite right on the longer putts but I’m encouraged and not three-putting which enables you to maintain momentum.’’

SCORES SOAR AT NZ PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The afternoon field in the second round of the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater today was battling the wretched weather – strong wind and rain – and only three golfers were under par, all of them one-under.
 
Australian Ashley Hall and Canterbury’s Anthony Doyle , both of who shot three-under 69s in the morning, seem certain to be the leading duo after 36 holes at seven-under and four-under, respectively.
 
Another Canterbury professional, Mathew Holten, who was tied second overnight at five-under had dropped three shots in his first six holes but still had a share of third place on three-under.

United States-based New Zealand professional Grant Waite was also hanging tough, being one-over through 12 holes (11 pars, one bogey) and in a tie for eighth at two-under. Defending champion Steve Alker was three-over for his round through 12 holes and one-over for the championship.

The cut, which looked likely to be one-over early today, is expected to be at three-over par.

DOYLE ADVANCES UP NZ PGA LEADERBOARD

Christchurch club resident professional Anthony Doyle proved he could match it with his travelling counterparts with a bogey-free round of three-under par 69 to scorch up the New Zealand PGA Championship leaderboard in today’s second round.

Doyle was tied for 33rd after a one-under 71 on the first day, but with a strong southerly sweeping the course and bringing heavy showers with it, his score equalled the best of the early finishers and had him tied third at four-under par, just three shots behind Australian leader, Ashley Hall, with most of the morning field in the clubhouse.

HALL MAKES EARLY MOVE AT NZ PGA AT CLEARWATER

Australian Ashley Hall was the early mover on the second day of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater with three early birdies to take him to seven under and a two shot lead over fellow Victorian and overnight leader, Michael Curtain.
 
Curtain himself had got to seven under after the first three holes, but consecutive bogeys dropped him back to a bunch of four along with New Zealanders Grant Moorhead (even through three), Mathew Holten (yet to start) and Australian Ewan Porter (-1 through three).
 
Former Australian Open Champion Steve Allan has been the stand out of the morning being four under through six holes to be four under for the tournament while local Christchurch Golf Club professional Anthony Doyle is three under through the first nine and three under for the championships.
 
A strong southerly and light rain is making conditions testing for the golfers.

BETTER MEMORIES FOR CURTAIN AT NZ PGA AT CLEARWATER

Michael Curtain erased damp memories of his last visit to Christchurch when he shot a blemish-free 66 to lead the first round of the New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater today.
 
Curtain played in the 2008 HSBC New Zealand PGA Championships, which was washed out with only two rounds completed. He finished 144th after rounds of 80-73.
 
“Today I started with a birdie on the 10th and then played some nice shots to get me going.  I sunk two big putts on 13 and seven (both from 40 feet) and those are the shots that count,” he said.
 
Curtain was seldom in danger today, missing only three fairways and two greens in his round.
 
“Last year was a struggle in Europe for me, but I came back and recorded my first win, the West Australian Open (by four shots) and then was in the top five going into the final rounds of some of the big tournaments just before Christmas without being able to finish them off.”

HOLTEN HOLDS EARLY NZ PGA LEAD AT CLEARWATER

Canterbury professional Mathew Holten holed a birdie `bomb’ at his final hole, the par-3 ninth water hole at Clearwater, to card a five-under 67 for a one-shot lead with the morning field having completed their first round in the New Zealand PGA Championship.
 
Holten, starting off the 10th tee, turned one-under after birdies at 12 and 14 and a bogey at the par-3 180m 16th hole – his only dropped shot – but he was in grand touch on the homeward half with birdies at the third, fourth, seventh and ninth.

``I didn’t hit the ball too well to be honest, but I hit it in good spots that gave me good lies and I was able to actually hit a few greens and two-putt them. I had a couple of tap-in putts then holed a 40-foot bomb on the last. It’s always nice to make a par there so to get a two was pretty special,’’ Holten said.

WAITE HAPPY WITH PUTTING AFTER SHOOTING 69

Grant Waite finished the first round of the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater this morning a contented man. For one of only a few times in the last couple of years he completed a round without a three-putt.
 
“That was a bonus for me. I sunk a couple of nice birdie putts, my stroke was good throughout and there was only one putt that I didn’t feel comfortable over,” he said.
 
Waite is in the very early stages of trying to resurrect his golfing career, held back by indifferent putting, by changing his putting grip from right hand to left.
 
Waite started by birdieing his first hole (10th) and then “played nicely” from there on, picking up further birdies on 17, three and five, the only blemish a bogey on the difficult par 4, 14th for his 69.

NZ PGA CHAMPION COMES IN FROM THE COLD

Steve Alker has come in from the cold on two accounts to defend his New Zealand PGA title at the Clearwater course in Christchurch this week.

The affable Kiwi professional has hardly touched a club since missing the cut at the second stage of the United States PGA tour qualifying school in mid-November and in recent weeks he has been shivering in snow and sub-zero temperatures in Britain.
 
Before teeing off in today’s pro-am, Alker said how much he enjoyed being back in New Zealand in a warmer clime and being able to hit balls off grass rather than just putting on carpet indoors.

WAITE’S TOUR HOPES REST WITH LEFT-HANDED PUTTER

How much longer New Zealand professional continues to play the United States golf tours may well depend on how he fares this year with a change of putting stance, from right-handed to left-handed.
 
The putting woes of Waite over the last decade have been well documented. He continues to rank highly on the tee to green statistics and continues to rate lowly on the putting. And he knows better than most the old adage of `drive for show, putt for dough.’
 
Waite will use his new left-handed putter – one that is a little smaller and lighter than his stock right-handed stick – for the first time in competition at the New Zealand PGA Championship, starting tomorrow at the Clearwater resort course in Christchurch.

Brad Heaven still targets US golf tour

Kiwi professional Brad Heaven has not forsaken his dream to compete on the United States PGA tour, despite six unsuccessful attempts to earn his card at qualifying school.
 
Last year Heaven, 29, made it through to the second stage for the fourth time and was confident of making it to the six-round final stage for the first time after preparing assiduously and making a flying start to the second stage.
 
But the United States-based Heaven, in Christchurch this week to contest the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater starting on Thursday, admitted that he took the wrong approach after such a strong start and it cost him dearly.

Alker back to defend title

	Steve Alker is back to defend the PGA Championship.

Defending champion Steve Alker will be looking to put behind him the disappointment of a poor finish to the 2009 season when he tees off in the 2010 New Zealand PGA Championship.

Alker looked to be in for a stellar season when he backed up his win in the PGA with a 13th place in the Michael Hill New Zealand Open several weeks later. Such was this early success that Alker changed his plans to campaign in Europe and switched his attentions to the Nationwide Tour.

Unfortunately, his form departed him somewhere over the Pacific and what seemed like a formality, getting his full PGA tour card by finishing in the top 25 on the order of merit, gradually slipped away.