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**truebluefan** · 11-28-2007, 02:39 PM

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**truebluefan** · 11-28-2007, 02:40 PM

November 28, 2007

Former NZ Open Champions Drawn Together

New Zealand’s leading professional, Michael Campbell, winner of the 2000 tournament, and Australian Peter O’Malley, champion in 1995, have been drawn with Englishman Richard Finch for the first two rounds of the Michael Hill New Zealand Open.

The trio will tee off in the afternoon for their first round at The Hills on Thursdsay at 12.40pm. Another strong group starting at 1pm includes two other former champions, Bob Charles, a four-time winner and Simon Owen, who won in 1976, and European Seniors tour player, Jim Lapsley, from nearby Queenstown.

Key morning groups are the tournament’s leading world-ranked player, Daniel Chopra (Sweden), 2002 champion Craig Parry (Australia), and New Zealand’s Phil Tataurangi. They hit off at 7.40am and behind them will be two other former champions, New Zealand’s Michael Long and Australian Peter Fowler, along with New South Welshman Peter Sheehan.

**truebluefan** · 11-28-2007, 02:40 PM

New Zealand professional Michael Long has severed his ties with the United States tour and intends competing regularly on the Australasian tour in future years.

After spending most of his 17 years as a professional on the mainstream tour or secondary Nationwide tour in the United States, Long said he was tired of the daily grind and found his enjoyment had waned.

Long was the best-placed New Zealander in last week’s Mastercard Masters at the Huntingdale course in Melbourne and, after being second-best Kiwi at the 2006 New Zealand Open, he is expected to be one of the leading contenders at The Hills over the next four days.

Long, a former national amateur champion, won the 1996 New Zealand Open at Paraparaumu Beach, and only Michael Campbell of the New Zealanders finished ahead of him last year.

"I’ve been pretty happy with my performances from July. I’ve been quite solid without stringing four rounds together but I’ve been doing a lot of individual things well that I hadn’t been doing previously like driving the ball better and showing more patience."

"But my putting is not where it was six or seven years ago and that’s what happened at Huntingdale in the first two rounds."

Long made three of the last four cuts on this year’s Nationwide Tour but did not try for his card for next year’s tour.

"’ve been up and down between the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tours and the pressure is on you from the first to 33rd tournaments and it grinds on you week in, week out. I found I’ve enjoyed it more coming back to play on the Australasian Tour. ’m almost 40 and don’t really want to keep going to tour schools."

Long said he hoped to win an event or two on the Australasian Tour over the next three or four years and was open to any offers that might present itself.

Born in nearby Cromwell, Long said he enjoyed being back in Queenstown.

"This is a beautiful part of the country. I think the New Zealand Open should be moved around and we get a rotation of courses with the infrastructure. People like seeing New Zealand players playing. I’m a great believer in filling the New Zealand Open field with all the New Zealanders you can."

**truebluefan** · 11-28-2007, 02:41 PM

Daniel Chopra shows no signs of tiredness as he prepares for his final tournament of the year – the Michael Hill New Zealand Open starting at The Hills course near Queenstown tomorrow.

Few players have matched Chopra’s schedule of 37 tournaments, but the globe-trotting Swede comes into the event as the world’s lowest ranked player, at 119th, and is excited about playing a course he, like most of the 156-strong, have seen for the first time this week.

"This is my last tournament of the year and what a wonderful place to finish the season off. I’ve played the course twice and it is a wonderful course and I feel like I’m ready for it.

"As long as they keep the greens soft I think they will be very puttable but they’re still a little borderline. The fairways are good but the greens are a little too bouncy for where the Tour would like to put their pins" Chopra said.

"If we can get a little bit of water on them and soften them somehow I think we will have a fantastic lay out."

Chopra said the course was one where a strategic plan was necessary.

"You have to figure it out on every hole and there are a lot of different ways of playing them. You can play very conservatively which is probably the way to play it if the greens are soft, but in my opinion now you have to play aggressively off the tee, get down as far as you can and leave yourself a shorter club as possible in order to control the ball."

Chopra has been in rare form recently with a third in Texas preceding his win in the Ginn sur Mer Classic on the United States PGA Tour in Florida last month and his second in the Mastercard Masters in Melbourne last weekend – beaten by Australian Aaron Baddeley after a four-hole play off.

And his showing in the pro-am today suggests he is holding that form. He fired five birdies and carded a four-under 68.

Despite travelling extensively around the world, Chopra has no intentions of cutting back in 2008.

"I play the tournaments I like and on the course and in the cities I enjoy. I play about 36 or 37 tournaments so that gives me four months off and I don’t spend hours on the range. I play tournaments because I love to compete – I don’t like sitting at home and watching it on television. That’s frustrate me and I want to be out there."

Chopra said the organisers last year were grateful for his attendance and that appreciation and the fact he loved visiting New Zealand made his decision to return an easy one. He finished 12th equal last year.

Golfbum · 12-01-2007, 12:14 PM

IMO the story of this event is the fact that 71 year old Bob Charles made the cut

He now holds the record of being the oldest person to make a cut in a professional tournament. The late Sam Snead held that record until this week.
Charles shot a 68 on Friday, 3 strokes less than his age. Amazing!

**truebluefan** · 12-01-2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfbum

IMO the story of this event is the fact that 71 year old Bob Charles made the cut

He now holds the record of being the oldest person to make a cut in a professional tournament. The late Sam Snead held that record until this week.
Charles shot a 68 on Friday, 3 strokes less than his age. Amazing!

That is amazing in itself.

**truebluefan** · 12-01-2007, 07:02 PM

Australian Steven Bowditch shot a course record 65 at The Hills Golf Club, Queenstown to take the lead after the second round of the Michael Hill New Zealand Open.

Bowditch reeled off eight birdies, including five in a row between the ninth and 13 holes, to reach the halfway stage at ten under par, a stroke clear of his nearest rival, compatriot Paul Sheehan.

Sheehan, one of three joint leaders after the opening round, fired a 67 to finish the second round at nine under, while New Zealand's Michael Long birdied the last in a round of 67 to finish the day outright third at eight under.

Beginning his round with a birdie at the par five first, Bowditch was solid, if not spectacular, through his first eight holes to remain at even par.

However, he caught fire and reeled off five straight birdies from the ninth hole to the 13th, following that up with another at the 15th, when he drove the green, and then producing a wonderful tee shot on the par three 16th to three feet to move to seven under par.

"I've been practising well and doing everything I need to do to compete at a high level but haven't been able to put it on the golf course," Bowditch said.

"The last couple of days I just went out there and had fun, still put in all the work but played like I didn't care to a certain degree."

While Bowditch's round gave him the tournament lead, his performance was overshadowed by an amazing display from New Zealand's 1963 Open Champion Bob Charles who, at the age of 71, became the oldest player to make the cut in a European Tour event.

The record was previously held by Ireland's Christy O'Connor, who was 64 and 184 days when he made the cut in the 1989 Carroll's Irish Open.

But cheered on by his home crowd, the legendary left-hander rolled back the years to shoot a 68, making the cut with a score of one under par 143 after a round that featured five birdies and an eagle. He also became the first player to beat his age by three shots.

"I didn't want to come here and embarrass myself. The competition does get me fired up and the way the golf course set up helped me considerably," Charles said.

"The old adrenaline starts to flow with the competition and I almost felt 30 years younger today. It's something which I enjoy and get a lot of pride from.”

And there was more excitment when Australian Steven Jeffres made the first albatross of the season by holing-in-one with a driver on the 332 yards 15th.

**truebluefan** · 12-01-2007, 07:03 PM

Englishman Richard Finch shot an eight under par 64 to open up a three shot lead at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open to put himself in the pole position to win his first European Tour title.

The 30 year old followed up his 65 from the second round with nine birdies and a single bogey to reach the clubhouse at 14 under par 202, extending his lead with birdies at the last two holes at The Hills Golf Club in Queenstown.

"I hit the fairways, hit it as near to the pin on the green as I could then tried to give myself a chance to drop the putts in," Finch said.

"I was looking at the leaderboard on the way round at about the 13th or 14th and thought that if I could press on over the last few holes and make a few birdies I could open up a bit of a lead."

Australian Steven Bowditch, who led by a single stroke after the second round, shot a fighting 71 to finish the day in second place in the event co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

He was in danger of slipping even further behind after making a triple-bogey on the par five eighth hole but regained his composure to collect four birdies in a row on the back nine.

Australian Peter Fowler fired an incredible ten under par 62 to storm up the leaderboard into third place at ten under just a day after he shot 75.

Fowler, who won the New Zealand Open 14 years ago, collected eight birdies and an eagle to smash The Hills course-record by three strokes, matching the lowest score in the tournament's history at any course.

"I needed a good score after starting so far behind the leaders," Fowler said.

New Zealand's 1963 Open Champion Bob Charles continued his amazing run with a tidy round of 71, matching his age, a day after he beat it by three shots with a 68 to become the oldest player to make the cut on any of the world’s major tours.

**truebluefan** · 12-04-2007, 10:02 PM

England’s Richard Finch produced a performance to match the grandeur of his surroundings at The Hills Golf Club in Queenstown to claim his first professional title with a three stroke victory in the Michael Hill New Zealand Open.

Just a few weeks ago Finch was battling to save his card and left it until his final event of the 2007 season before climbing into the all important top 115 by finishing joint seventh in the Mallorca Classic. Now, just four events into a new campaign, he put all that behind him with a commanding victory over the Australian pair of Steven Bowditch and Paul Sheehan.

A record crowd of 9, 017 gathered to watch Finch, the overnight leader by three strokes, try to hold his advantage and with nine holes remaining, the 30 year old had pulled six strokes clear of his nearest challengers.

And he finally made that maiden breakthrough when he holed a 12 foot par putt on the 18th for a level par 72, following rounds of 73, 65 and 64 for a total of 14 under par 274.

While he didn't set the course alight as he did in setting a course record 65 on Friday - subsequently broken by Peter Fowler's 62 - before going one lower the following day, his lead was always safe.
He was able to settle into a comfortable rhythm as his challengers faltered.

Starting the day second on his own at 11 under par, Bowditch suffered five bogeys to drop out of contention. A monster putt on the 17th for eagle got him back to level par, finishing in a tie for second with compatriot Paul Sheehan at 11 under par.

Sheehan climbed into a share of second place with five birdies and two bogeys in a solid 69.

Four players tied for fourth at ten under, with a pair of 66s for Aussie Craig Parry and Swede Alexander Noren - the equal best rounds of the day alongside Welshman Jamie Donaldson - moved them up alongside Steven Jeffress and Matthew Millar.

As Finch marched to victory, the crowd were also privileged a special moment in New Zealand golfing history in the early afternoon. Sir Bob Charles, who actually had to be convinced to play at The Hills this week and was offered a special invitation to do so, signed off on a performance he called the best he has put together in over a decade.

The 71 year old shot his age or better for the third day in a row, finishing on four under for the tournament with rounds of 75, 68, 71 and a final round of two under par 70.