Alker back to defend title

Thursday, Jan 14, 2010

	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.

Another to have had a year of disappointments was last year's PGA runner-up, Josh Geary. After his second at Clearwater and a tie for fourth at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open, Geary was confident of getting starts on the Nationwide Tour in 2009. Unfortunately that never eventuated and he had to ply his trade back on the Canadian Tour.

Alker and Geary are but two New Zealanders looking to kick start their careers at Clearwater. Grant Waite is returning home as a "born again" left handed putter, trying desperately to improve the one aspect of his game that has not matched the purity of his hitting.

Amongst the other members of a strong New Zealand contingent are former PGA Tour winner Phil Tataurangi, Nationwide Tour player Brad Iles, the ever-consistent Michael Long, Richard Lee, who has performed well at Clearwater in the past, Grant Moorhead, Doug Holloway, Gareth Paddison and former New Zealand Open winner, Mahal Pearce, who looked to be finding form in Australia prior to Christmas.