Aussie wins NZ open, again
Another year, another Australian winner of the New Zealand Open.
Victorian rookie-pro Zach Murray is the latest from across the ditch to snare the Brodie Breeze Trophy, and he did so in the same fashion as Kiwi great Sir Bob Charles more than 60 years ago.
Until Murray sealed his wireto-wire win in the 100th edition of the tournament, nobody had led at the end of each round since Charles recorded the first of his four New Zealand Open victories in 1954.
‘‘I was speaking to Bob just before. I had never met him before. He’s an amazing man, I reckon if I can have a 10th of the career he has had, I will die a happy man,’’ Murray said.
The 21-year-old fired a final round four-under 68 at The Hills in Arrowtown yesterday to finish 21-under the card, two shots clear of Kiwi Josh Geary and Australian Ashley Hall.
He pocketed $225,000 for his efforts, not bad for his first career win since turning pro in November. He won the Western Australian Open as an amateur last year.
Australians have now won the New Zealand Open seven of the previous eight tournaments. Michael Hendry (2017) is the only Kiwi to get his hands on it the past 15 years.
Murray, who only made six bogeys all tournament, carded four birdies and an eagle in his final round, but had to withstand a late surge by Mt Maunganui pro Geary.
In the final group with Murray, who had a one stroke lead going into the day, Geary looked on song after opening with consecutive birdies to grab an early share of the lead.
However, four bogeys between holes 5-11 dropped him well off the pace, only for a fortuitous break on the par-five 13th setup an eagle, and a late run.
‘‘It’s a shame I lost momentum there,’’ Geary said. ‘‘I hit a good shot at five, hit the flag and missed the green. That kind of started a five-hole stretch that was weird. I bounced back nicely from that, but it was just too little, too late."
Geary’s approach on 13 looked destined for the left-hand hazard, only to take a couple of lucky bounces and race past the pin. For a moment, an albatross looked on. The 34-year-old followed his eagle with consecutive birdies to get to 19-under, but the problem was Murray also went eagle, birdie, birdie.
Up three shots with a hole to play, there were a couple of anxious moments after a wild tee shot, and terribly over-cooked approach, left Murray well out the back of the green.
However, he avoided disaster with a well hit wedge, before rolling in the bogey putt and holding his arms aloft.
‘‘Starting my career like this is so huge, to win the 100th New Zealand Open, I don’t think words can really describe that,’’ Murray said. ‘‘I’ll come back and support this tournament as long as I’m a professional."
Next up for Geary is the NZPGA Championship, starting at Christchurch’s Pegasus Golf Club on Thursday. He’ll then head to Africa for the Kenya Open the following week, one of eight to 12 starts he has lined up on the European Tour.
‘‘It [second place] takes a bit of pressure off financially with a year in Europe this year, it will be pretty expensive. It’s always nice to get a good pay cheque first up and play the way I did under pressure.
‘‘I felt really calm out there, I just had a bit of a weird stretch in the middle part. That’s just golf, it’s how it goes."
Steven Alker and Harry Bateman were the next best Kiwis, finishing 16-under for a share of eighth. Ryan Fox, the top-ranked (67th in the world) New Zealander, finished a shot back in a share of 11th.