POWER CHARGES TO OPEN VICTORY
Home club golfers hold nerve in tough conditions to claim first Cairns Open titles
THE power of a hot putter has fired Frank Power to the top of the leaderboard to claim his first Cairns Open title.
After a first-round 74, the 44-year-old held his nerve for a solid 72 on a tough day all round to complete a two-shot victory ahead of Matt Spilsbury, who shot the round of the day yesterday with 70.
Power looked home and hosed down the final stretch, largely thanks to his putter, before it let him down for a double bogey on 17.
But it was a mere blip as he held his nerve on the last to lift the trophy on behalf of the home club.
“I missed a short putt on 17 but and I was good all day until 17, but I wasn’t sure what the other boys were shooting,” Power said.
“It was pretty tough out there with the wind, it was blowing pretty hard and the greens were pretty quick so we were just sort of scrambling all day but I putted well.
“My iron shots weren’t very good. I was a bit wayward early on but the putter saved me. I got some really nice up-anddowns, made a few nice saves.”
The most important came on the seventh when Power found trouble off the tee.
“On 7 I hit a bad drive into the trees, I had to lay up, had about 90m in and I got that upand-down for par and that was a good save that sort of kept the momentum going,” he said.
“I was pretty steady from then on. I was very shaky early on but once I made that par on 7, that steadied the ship.”
Overnight clubhouse leaders Tanner Ward and Matt Velicki faded to finish equal fifth and equal 10th respectively and Power was unsure about whether he could catch them.
“I wasn’t overly confident, because I haven’t been playing very well lately, but I just hit a couple of nice shots on the front nine and got a bit of confidence,” he said.
“It’s good. I’ve never won this event. I’ve played in it quite a few times, never played well in it, so it’s good to win it and I just wanted to win it for the home club.”
Power will be one of 16 Cairns golfers taking on Townsville in the first leg of the Twin Cities Challenge from May 19-20.