On course for tilt at PGA title

Hodge qualifies for NZ PGA

Brad Kennedy (Australia)

The defending New Zealand PGA Championship winner will be hard to stop again this year. With a world ranking of 182, he is the highest-rated player in the field. He has two Japan Golf Tour wins. The 43-year-old spent the mid-2000s on the European Tour. He only played four events on the Australasian PGA Tour last year, but was still good enough to finish 38th on the order of merit.

Luke Toomey (New Zealand)

Levin golfer Tyler Hodge will compete in the New Zealand PGA Championship at Manawatu this week, after qualifying on Monday.

Hodge was one of 28 golfers who got the final spots in the field of 132 for the four-day tournament, which starts on Thursday.

Manawatu club pro Alan Hyatt and Marton professional Lachie Mcdonald were already in the field. Also in the qualifiers was top Kiwi Tae Koh, who has performed well at previous Lawnmaster Classics.

There is already a strong Australian influence in the field, which includes guns Nick Cullen, Dimitrios Papadatos, Jake Higginbottom, Adam Blyth, Ashley Hall, Todd Sinnott and defending champion Brad Kennedy.

Five of the 11 Kiwis in the world’s top 1000 golfers will line up at Manawatu - Josh Geary, Daniel Pearce, David Klein, Michael Long and Gareth Paddison.

Tauranga’s Kieran Muir, who won the shootout at Manawatu last year, will be back, as is Geary, who was the best-placed Kiwi at last year’s New Zealand PGA Championship in Auckland, tied for second behind Kennedy.

Kiwi veterans Grant Waite and David Smail are in the field, while American Heath Slocum has the potential to dominate the tournament.

Australasian PGA Tour carded Kiwis Mark Brown, Fraser Wilkin, Ben Campbell, Harry Bateman and Luke Toomey, who turned professional earlier this year, will also contest the title.

Other Kiwis to watch will be Nick Gillespie, Sam An, Brad Hayward, Shaun Jones and Peter Zwart.

New Zealand’s top three amateurs Daniel Hillier, Ryan Chisnall and Luke Brown have also been invited.