Trio of Kiwis in NZ Open hunt AT A GLANCE
A trio of Kiwis will go into the final round of the New Zealand Open with a sniff at bagging the Brodie Breeze Trophy today.
Three years after snapping a 14-year Kiwi drought, 2017 winner Michael Hendry, and Masterton’s Harry Bateman, are four shots off the pace ahead of the final round at Arrowtown’s Millbrook Resort.
Paired together yesterday, the duo both shot four-under 67s to improve to 11-under the card in a share of sixth. Tauranga pro Kieran Muir is a further shot back in a tie for ninth.
Australian Lucas Herbert and South Korean teenager Joohyung Kim are shared for the lead at 15-under, two shots clear of 2011 winner Brad Kennedy (Aus).
‘‘The beauty of being three or four back is you don’t really feel as much pressure as the other guy,’’ Hendry said.
‘‘I don’t care how experienced you are, you are going to feel pressure and you’re going to feel nerves if you go into the final round with the lead, or really close to it, say one behind.’’
Hendry holed a tricky ninefooter to close out his third round but, like the previous day at The Hills, was left to rue a string of missed birdie opportunities.
That included on the 12th and 14th holes, where he barely slid his putts past the cup as his putter again let him down.
‘‘I’m just finding them tough to read. I don’t know whether they’re putting [the pins] in slightly different places or whether they’re just a little more subtle than normal,’’ he said.
The 40-year-old, who double bogeyed the sixth, also suggested the greens at Millbrook were slower than at the The Hills this week, while in previous years they were ‘‘very similar’’.
Bateman had a superb eagle on the par-five 17th to thank for his four-under round, reward for hanging tough and making a bunch of excellent par saves on the back nine. After smoking a five-iron from 190m out and nestling his second shot just off the back of the green, he walked in a lengthy, down-hill left-toright putt.
‘‘That was like the impossible putt but it went in,’’ Bateman said
Lucas Herbert (AUS), Joohyung Kim (South Korea) Brad Kennedy (AUS) Chan Kim (US), Nick Flanagan (AUS)
Kinoshita (JPN)
Ryosuke
shortly after signing his card. ‘‘It was pretty scrappy today, it didn’t feel like I had my best stuff. I had about six or seven sevenfoot par putts and I made them all and it just kept me going.
‘‘They’re the key to keep the round going. I need to figure out a couple of things after this [at the range].’’
Herbert also planned to head to the range after his third round to address a few issues with his swing, which resulted in a few errant shots in the middle of his round.
But the 24-year-old carded a smooth six-under 65, which included seven birdies, to ensure Kim didn’t bag the outright lead three consecutive days.
Herbert won the Dubai Desert Classic in a playoff last month, when he went into the final round six shots back.
However, as Hendry said, Sunday will be a completely different story. ‘‘For sure, Dubai teeing off in the final round, winning wasn’t in the forefront of your mind, given how far back we were.
‘‘Obviously, tomorrow is going to be a different story ... but I don’t think I’ve ever been as ready as I am now.’’
15-under:
13-under: 12-under:
11-under: Michael Hendry (NZ), Harry Bateman (NZ),