The Gold Coast Bulletin

PUNTER DRIVE IS STILL CLASSY

- IAIN PAYTEN

FULL house at the MCG on Boxing Day is no problem for Ricky Ponting.

A small gallery at 7am in the drizzle on the first tee with Jordan Spieth? Different story.

“Not so much in front of Jordan or anything like that, it’s just the other people who come out to watch you,” Ponting said at the Australian Open pro-am in Sydney.

“You get a bit toey because you are out of your comfort zone.

“You do it in front of 100,000 people you don’t even think about it but a couple of hundred on the golf course, it’s a bit different. “You get a bit nervous.” Ponting drove cleanly in the end, didn’t hit anyone and, for the rest of his 18 holes with the world No.2, acquitted himself well.

For those who know how much the former Australian captain loves his golf, that part won’t come as a surprise.

Ponting plays off scratch and his former brilliance with the willow has transferre­d to the golf clubs.

In one remarkable shot on the 16th, Ponting’s ball was behind a tree but he shaped it around the trunk and landed on the green, 120m away.

“Boy, he has a really solid game. He can bomb it,” Spieth said.

“You can tell he’s a scratch player just by when he sets up and hits one shot.”

While no scores were forthcomin­g yesterday, Ponting’s balanced swing, fast club-head speed, and accurate short game and putting show he has the right tools to make money in golf.

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