Amateur in the hunt at NZ PGA

INFORM New Zealand professional Josh Geary, Canterbury amateur Kazuma Kobori and Australian Jack Wilson share the lead of the weatheraffected New Zealand PGA Championship at Pegasus Golf and Sports Club.

Kobori still had two holes to play before the second round was delayed yesterday due to darkness.

He had rocketed up the leaderboard with five birdies and an eagle to equal the pace set by Geary and Wilson at 12underpar.

With two hours of delays due to rain pushing play out to almostdarkness, Kobori was excited by the chance to play weekend golf in his home town.

‘‘I’ve only got two holes to play so I’ll keep doing what I’m doing,’’ Kobori said.

‘‘I’m almost through 18 holes of golf so I will just go out there and enjoy it.’’

Kobori, one of just six players yet to complete their second rounds, was pleased with his efforts in difficult conditions.

‘‘I made a really good upanddown on eight, and holed a 25footer on nine for eagle, so that was the hole of the day, for sure.

‘‘I teed off after the rain delay, so the conditions were awesome. I also putted well, which helps.’’

Wilson was able to remain composed in the bad weather to card a superb 8under 64 on a chilly Christchurch morning, moving his total to 12 under after two rounds.

‘‘It is good to walk away with a number like that,’’ Wilson said.

‘‘To do it in weather like that was fantastic. I’ve managed to

walk away with a birdie on the last as well so you’ve got to be happy with that.’’

Wilson was left with just two shots to play in his second round before another delay was called as water flooded sections of the Pegasus course, a situation Wilson found tough to handle.

‘‘I thought it was pretty hard to deal with,’’ he said.

‘‘We’d played in it pretty much all day, but at least in the same conditions for two hours, and then just as I’m about to finish, the siren decides to go.

‘‘Once you get past being a bit annoyed, we sat in front of a heater, had a pie . . . and you deal with what you can and get things dry. Then we went out and finished it off.’’

Starting his round in heavy rain, Geary was on only his second hole when play was suspended.

‘‘We got really lucky with that, I think,’’ Geary said.

‘‘We were only on the second tee when the swell was coming in. When we came back out, there was no rain, and the wind died down as the day went on.

‘‘It got cold but we were very lucky, I think, with the weather.’’

Geary, who tied for second at the New Zealand Open at The Hills, posted a 3under 69, and felt he could have done better.

‘‘It was a bit of a struggle today. I felt too good to shoot that number, to be fair.

‘‘I left a few shots out there on the front nine — a couple of lipouts. I had a really bad bogey on nine and threeputted 11, so I sort of lost my way a bit.

‘‘I finished OK and made an eagle on 16 but it was a bit of a funny day. I had a couple of unlucky breaks.’’

The 16th at Pegasus is quickly becoming a favourite for Geary, who also eagled the hole in Thursday’s opening round.

Sitting in fourth place is Australian Daniel Fox on a tournament total of 11under, ahead of David Smail and Jack Weston on 10under.

The projected cut is 1under.

❛ I made a really good upanddown on eight, and holed a 25footer on nine for eagle, so that was the hole of the

day, for sure

NZ PGA coleader Kazuma Kobori