Horror week for Kiwis

Hot on the heels of Danny Lee’s meltdown at the US Open, it’s been a horror time for the other New Zealand golfers on tour.

After six-putting the final hole of his third round at Winged Foot last Sunday, Lee withdrew from the major tournament, citing a wrist injury.

He later apologised on social media for the outburst which saw him bash his putter into his bag, and said he was going to take some time off from the game.

But while Lee sits out this week, and top-ranked New Zealand woman Lydia Ko has no tournament on, it’s been a sorry tale for the other Kiwis in action.

At the European Tour’s Irish Open, both Ryan Fox and Michael Campbell missed the cut, while on the PGA Tour Tim Wilkinson did make the weekend at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, before slipping well off the pace.

Like Lee, Fox had a US Open to forget, carding a woeful 15-over 85 in his second round which took him to 19-over – a score better than only three other players.

Any hope the luck of the Irish might help fix his issues was not to be, when he finished his latest event on Saturday at 11-over, tied for 104th.

A first-round eight-over 78 was then followed by a quadruple bogey eight on the first hole of Fox’s second round, and while he eagled the very next hole, the damage was done.

His rollercoaster continued with three consecutive birdies at holes 12 to 14, then three bogeys to finish.

Campbell fared only slightly better, finishing seven-over in a share of 84th after rounds of 75 then 72, missing the cut by two strokes.

Englishman Aaron Rai, at eight-under, will take a oneshot lead into the final round.

For Wilkinson, who started the new PGA Tour season on fire by being among the leaders at the Safeway Open in California a fortnight ago before a finalround blowout saw him finish tied for 36th, it was a similar struggle in his latest event in the Dominican Republic.

A two-under 72 and oneunder 71 saw the 42-year-old scrape to the three-under cut line, but after bogeying the first two holes of his third round yesterday, Wilkinson’s three-over 75 saw him slide 17 places into a share of 71st at even par.

American Adam Long leads the tournament by two shots, at 17-under, going into the last day.