‘Weird round’

Harry Bateman has where that came from.

The 28-year-old from Masterton carded a scorching eight-under par 64 at The Hills yesterday to grab a share of the New Zealand Open lead in Arrowtown.

To think he started his round with a pair of bogeys, before nailing four birdies and an eagle down the stretch to join Australian Zach Murray and Japan’s Ryuko Tokimatsu in the lead.

‘‘It was one of the weirdest rounds I’ve ever had,’’ Bateman said.

‘‘I honestly don’t feel like I played that well. I just got some breaks and holed some great putts. My short game was unreal, but my ball-striking was a bit poor . . . I just got a lot of good breaks out there.’’

Having made eagle on 17, Bateman drilled a lovely approach shot to within a couple of metres on the par-four 18th. He made no

no

idea mistake with the putt, which catapulted him four strokes clear of the next best Kiwis – Josh Geary and Tim Wilkinson in the tournament’s centenary event.

‘‘Pretty unexpected, eh? Bateman said of his position. ‘‘The way I was playing, I don’t know how it happened, but I just had a great finish and here we are.’’

Ranked 914th in the world, Bateman will play the par-71 Millbrook course today, when the

top-60 (plus ties) survive the cut and play The Hills at the weekend to decide the winner of the $1.3 million tournament.

Geary and Wilkinson, two of

16 players in a share of ninth, are one stroke clear of top-ranked New Zealander Ryan Fox, and fellow Kiwis Steven Alker, Daniel Pearce, James Anstiss and Mark Brown.

Fox, who shot a three-under 68 at Millbrook, almost fell asleep on the massage table after his round, hardly a surprise considering he only arrived in Arrowtown from a whirlwind trip to Mexico on Wednesday morning.

‘‘I’m pretty knackered now. But I felt pretty good on the golf course, I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm this morning feeling pretty good,’’ Fox said.

Ranked 68th in the world, Fox