Three share lead at halfway mark in New Zealand
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Australian Kurt Barnes suffered a late double-bogey Friday afternoon to lose the outright lead and drop into a three-way tie for first place after 36 holes at the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship. Barnes, the first-round leader, posted a 1-under par 71 to join Kentucky’s Josh Teater (68) and New Zealand’s Gareth Paddison (68) at 9-under 135.Nationwide Tour rookie Steve Friesen of Nebraska carded a second-day 67 and shares fourth place at 8-under with Aussie Peter O’Malley (67), a two-time winner of the Tournament.
Seven players are knotted at 7-under, including Americans David Branshaw (71), Craig Bowden (68) and Kevin Johnson (67).
A total of 63 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at a Tournament record-low 3-under 141. Among those advancing is 18-year old Danny Lee, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion who won the Johnnie Walker Classic two weeks ago in western Australia. Lee carded a 5-under 67 and is in a group of 12 players tied at 6-under 138.
Paddison, who leads the contingent of 19 Kiwis entered this week, was the first to reach the clubhouse at 9-under par. The 28-year old admitted he didn’t hole as many putts in Friday’s morning round but did a better job off the tee. The lefty hit only four of 14 fairways during his opening 67 and upped that to seven for his round of 68.
“I hit the 3-wood a few more times and got back in rhythm,” said Paddison, who hails from Wellington on the North Island. “I’ve had it for the past 12 years. It knows where the golf course is most of the time.”
After an opening bogey at the par-5, 10th, Paddison posted five birdies in a seven-hole stretch and then concluded his day with eight consecutive pars.
“I played really solid. It was incredibly steady but I didn’t putt as well as I would have liked,” he said. “I left a couple of shots out there.”
Part of the problem might have been his eyesight.
“It’s hard not to get nervous when you make a birdie and suddenly you see your name on the leaderboard,” he admitted in the press room. “It hasn’t been there much in the past. Looking back, I can’t complain about what I’ve done – I’ve never been in this room before.”
Teater holed birdie putts on his opening three holes Friday, quickly moving to 8-under for the Tournament.
“When you get off to a start like that you just want to keep it going,” he said. “If you make three or four pars you’re thinking about getting back on track and make some birdies.”
Teater moved to 10-under par with a five-foot birdie putt at No. 15 but then gave the stroke back when he pulled a wedge shot left of the green at No. 17.
“I had a perfect yardage there, 87 yards,” said Teater. “I hit it left of the flag and that’s something you can’t do. It hit by the pin and kicked off the green, so that was a mistake. You learn from it and move on.”
The former Moorehead State University standout finds himself in a similar position to last week, when he was one stroke off the 36-hole lead at the Moonah Classic near Melbourne, Australia. Teater, who stumbled with back-to-back 76s and fell into a tie for 37th, hopes he’s learned from his weekend wobbles.
“Waiting that late to tee off on Saturday was tough. On the mini-Tours, even on weekends, everybody tees off before 10,” he said. “Now I know a little bit more about how it works.”
One of the other things the Lexington resident will have to get used to is playing in twosomes.
“I’m not used to doing that either,” said Teater. “Panama (T34) was the first time I’ve done that and at time I felt like I was running out there. I feel like I’m learning to adjust to that and hopefully I’ll have a better feeling this weekend. I was rushing myself a bit and I need to pace myself a little better (Saturday).”
As it turned out, Teater won’t have to worry about that. Saturday’s pairings are in threesomes with Teater in the final group that tees off just before noon. The change is in order to accommodate a 5 p.m. local finish for television.
The outright lead looked as though it would once again belong to Barnes, a 27-year old big hitter from Sydney who posted a 64 Thursday morning to grab the first-round lead by one. Barnes was bogey-free and cruising along with a two-stroke lead with two holes to go when disaster struck. Barnes hit his tee shot into the tall grass and was forced to take a stroke penalty for an unplayable lie. His next shot plugged into the hazard that guards the right side of the green. Barnes slashed it from the mud and onto the green, where two-putts later he registered a six.
“It’s not too bad. You always have to expect it,” he said of the disastrous double. “Those are the two worst shots I’ve hit all week so it’s all right. To be honest, I hit the ball a lot cleaner today than I did yesterday. I hit more greens today and didn’t make any errors, so it’s looking good for tomorrow.”
Friesen moved into contention for the first time this year thanks to some solid iron play. The Nebraska native hit 16 greens in regulation despite finding only five of 14 fairways.
“I made the birdies on the par-5s and knocked it close enough on a couple of the par-4s,” he said. “I haven’t made many putts outside 10 to 15 feet in a while and I made several today, maybe four of them. The greens are so nice you feel like you can make the putts.”
Friesen may be a rookie on Tour this year but the 31-year had made 19 career starts on Tour since 2001. It’s his first visit Down Under and his first attempt at driving on the left side of the road.
“I had my caddie drive from the airport on the first day and it took me a while to get behind the wheel,” he said. “Now that I’ve done it, it’s about the same as home. It’s pretty easy once you get used to it but when you get in the city with all the roundabouts and traffic, then you get a little tight.”
Second-Round Notes: Tripp Isenhour became the second player in two days to roll in six consecutive birdies. Isenhour made a half-dozen starting at No. 15. He finished his opening nine with four in a row and then made the turn to the front, where he added birdies at Nos. 1 and 2. He finished with a 5-under 67 and stands 5-under 139 for two days. Australian Ryan Hammond had six in a row Thursday.
Gavin Coles opened second-round play with four straight birdies. Coles finished with a 68 and is 6-under for 36 holes.
Ryan Hietala shot a 5-under 67 Friday to make the 36-hole cut and 6-under 138. Hietala advances to the weekend for the first in five trips Down Under. Hietala ended an 0-for-7 streak with his 67, the first time he has posted a sub-70 score in this part of the world. He had missed the cut in both Australia and New Zealand in 2004, 2007, 2008 and missed the cut last week at the Moonah Classic. His scoring average in four starts in Australia is 75.875 and is now 72.375 in New Zealand.
While Saturday is traditionally known in golf as “moving day,” Friday might be the better day for it. Of the 63 players who made the cut, 55 posted sub-par scores and four shot even-par 72s. Only four players carded rounds above par and survived the cut – there were a pair of 73s and a pair of 74s.
Friday’s second-round scoring average was 71.333, marking the second straight day the average was below par. Never before in the Tournament’s eight-year history had that occurred.
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