NZ PGA CHAMPION COMES IN FROM THE COLD

Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010

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.

Alker, 38, became the first New Zealander to win the professional event at Clearwater in eight years when he won the NZ PGA Championship last year by two shots from fellow Kiwis, Josh Geary and David Smail, with a 15-under par total of 273.

While he comes to Christchurch this week with little practice and without high hopes, he said a lower back injury which caused him to miss some Nationwide Tour events in April had healed and he was mentally refreshed.

``I haven’t got high expectations which is good as I prefer to come in and play it low key. I’m just looking forward to playing here and this is a good build-up for next week (Michael Hill New Zealand Open at Arrowtown) as well as I’m focusing on the Nationwide Tour.’’
 
After his NZ PGA win and tied 13th finish in the New Zealand Open, Alker was well-placed to earn his card for the 2010 United States PGA tour, but the rest of the year proved disappointing. He made just three cuts in the next 16 tournaments with a best finish of 23rd.
 
``I’ve no real excuses although at the start of the year I had an injury which didn’t come right until mid-May. I played well from tee to green but didn’t get it done of the greens. Putting is all about confidence and to be brutally honest I didn’t have any confidence on the greens. But I’ve done a lot of work in the last couple of months of last year and have had a bit of time to think and work on it since.’’
 
Alker said it was always a priority to return to defend his title. ``It’s a shame it (NZ PGA) has lost its Nationwide tour status, but it’s good they’ve kept the event going and a lot of Aussies have made the effort to come here and play.’’

``I played nine holes yesterday to get the feel of the greens. The course is in great shape and I really hadn’t lost a lot in terms of what I’ve been doing – it felt pretty good.’’