A flurry of New Zealand golfers were visible on tours around the world over the past week, including the rare sight of two Kiwi women competing in the USLPGA’s latest event.
Ryan Fox was in Scotsdale, Arizona, competing in that most remarkable if not the most unique of tournaments, the Waste Management Phoenix Open. And two Kiwis were hard at work in the Middle East at the Qatar Masters and in the most bizarre event of the year, a handful of Kiwi golfers took part in the Victoria Open at Barwon Heads, 20-odd kilometres from Geelong in rural Victoria. I say bizarre because the final day was played in winds, the like of which none of the players in the field had ever encountered before. The winds were so strong that a number of players, including the leaders, were seen imploring officials to suspend play mid-round.
Among the complainants was the man who eventually won the tournament, 40-year-old Kiwi golfer Josh Geary, whose patience finally wore thin on the 8th green when he had a two-and-a-half-foot putt for par from a dead flat lie. He barely touched the ball, which then wriggled slowly to the hole which it missed, then it gathered speed and rolled downwind for another 15 feet at least.
Many other golfers were having similar experiences. Eventually officials came out to inspect the worst affected holes which included the 8th , After much discussion with the players, the officials said play must continue. Their thinking, I guess, was formed around the fact that many in the field had already completed their rounds and had played their full 18 holes in windy conditions. However, as we know, usually the wind reaches its peak in mid to late afternoon, which was the case here.
I can’t recall ever seeing balls move so freely from still positions on putting greens as they were here. Many decades ago (back in the 1980’s) at one of NZ’s top professional events, the Garden City Classic, being played at the Russley course in Christchurch, I recall play was suspended as a strong norwesterly wind blew in from the Southern Alps. The balls that day were moving for sure but nowhere as much as they were on Sunday at this event in Victoria. When balls are blowing 10-20 feet past the hole from short 2- and 3-foot putts, the course quite simply is no longer playing fairly and play should be suspended. It was making the Victorian Open look like a putt putt event.
Fortunately for Josh Geary, he had, by the time he reached the 8 th hole, built up a 6-shot lead over the field, so he had a bit of a cushion and he needed it. On the back nine he had a run of 4 straight bogeys. Fortunately for him his nearest rivals were going backwards as well and in the end the Kiwi got home with a 4-shot winning margin. It was a memorable day, that’s for sure, for Josh. Apart from the windy memories he’ll take with him forever, it was also his first win on Australian soil for 12 years. Asked for his reaction when he came off the final green, he said, “Carnage. I’ve never seen anything like that on a golf course”. This from an 18-year veteran professional who has played on all of the world’s major golf tours over the past two decades.
He was, as the Aussie TV commentators admitted, the best player by far over the four days. Prior to the final round, Geary hadn’t recorded a bogey. He’d had three rounds in the mid-sixties. On Sunday he shot 78 and still won by 4 shots. Go figure.
Incidentally, because of the wind and the myriad problems it presented, the leaders took the best part of seven hours to complete that final round.
Meanwhile, on the world’s leading women’s Tour, the USLPGA, Lydia Ko wasn’t the only golfer flying the Kiwi flag. There alongside her in the field was 20-year-old Fiona Xu from the Titirangi Club in Auckland.
Fiona had earned her playing card for the LPGA Tour at the end of last year. And not to be out done by her illustrious compatriot, Fiona made a good fist of things. Here up against the world’s best, she finished in a tie for 50 th place with Lydia, who, it must be said, probably had a tournament she would rather forget. Something was horribly wrong with Lydia’s game on the first day, dropping 6 shots in her first 6 holes which included 2 double bogeys. Although she recovered over the rest of the round, she still finished 3 over par and never really featured in the tournament over the final three rounds.
Elsewhere Ryan Fox made a good start at the Phoenix Open and had pulled himself up to inside the top 25 after two rounds, only to fade over the weekend and finish in a tie for 69rd place. It was, however, his first start on the US Tour and against a backdrop of long-distance travel, having played a couple of events in the Middle East just prior to teeing it up in Arizona. It looks like a bit of jet lag might have kicked in over the last 2 rounds.
And back in the Middle East, Daniel Hillier continued his good consistent form on the DP World Tour with a 25th place at the Qatar Masters. He sits in 3rd place in the Race To Dubai, the rich end-of-season Championship final. Unfortunately Kazuma Kobori, our rookie pro on this Tour, missed the cut by 1 shot.
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