TUOHY STARTS WELL, FADES TO 3RD PLACE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30603, 20 November 1964, Page 15

TUOHY STARTS WELL, FADES TO 3RD PLACE

R. Tuohy, who had startled everyone with his 65 on Wednesday, looked likely to produce something similar when he began by dropping 10-foot putts for birdies at the first two holes. With his orthodox swing, he hit some fine drives and his irons, for a while at least, caused him no concern. There was a birdie, almost an eagle, at the fifth, but his drives at the sixth caught a fairway bunker, he dropped a shot, and from that point he was struggling to hold on to his advantage. He was still two under at the turn, and although he played the difficult 14th like a champion—a sound drive, a wonderful 4-iron and a sixfoot putt—he three-putted the sixteenth. It was only a birdie on the last hole which allowed him to share third place. Early Reverse Level with Tuohy was J. J. Sullivan, who was runner-up to Nagle in the Australian Open in 1959 and the Australian P.G.A. champion in 1960. Sullivan suffered an early reverse when his ball clipped a tree at the short third and he took 5. But Sullivan is a determined as well as efficient player, and after scoring birdies at the fourth and fifth, he reeled off par figures until the tenth, where he had his third birdie.

He played the fourteenth better, perhaps, than anyone else. His drive was of such quality that he was able to use a 6-iron for his second, and it gave him a putt of only three feet for his birdie.

Much was expected of the dynamic E. A. Ball, and he was one of the nine players who beat par. His quick swing and his aggressive approach perhaps deserved better than a 72, for there was no more unlucky putter than Ball. On

seven or eight occasions birdie putts slid past the hole with nothing to spare. One of the early leaders was J. E. Carter (Maraenul) who came from England some nine months ago. A fine putter, he holed a 40-footer at the third for a birdie and was three under at the turn, with four birdies in the half. He lost a shot at the eleventh, recovered It splendidly with a birdie at the twelfth, but thereafter was rather in the toils. But he finished one under, in an excellent position. The top New Zealand professional was R. R. Newdick, with 72. There was a tendency to pull his drives, a legacy perhaps of his desire for more length, but his iron play was of high quality and it allowed him to recover from difficulties. Although he dropped two strokes because of a bad drive at the sixth, he was square

at the turn and after a birdie at the tenth, his relentless application gave him par figures home. The leading amateur is the cheerful Wellington veteran, W. G. Horne, who played in his first Open 27 years ago. At Hamilton in 1937, he won the foursomes with the illustrious J. P. Hornabrook. He has missed only two Opens since the war. \ large group with scratch rcunds of 73 included P. W. Thomson, C. Legrange, S. Davies and two Christchurch amateurs, R. E. Clements and E. H. Richards. Thomson, who arrived too late to practice, played with R. C. Murray and they began as if they would rather have

been at the beach. Their lure of the sands took Thomson to four bunkers in the first six holes, Murray three. For a considerable period, the large gallery might well have wondered if it was watching the winner of four British Open titles, and the third amateur in the world. After six holes they were, in the aggregate, six over. Splendid Burst J Airray then threw off his shackles of uncertainty, and in a splendid burst of scoring had four birdies in five holes. It was a wonderful recovery: but he lost ground again swiftly before the end, an out-of-bounds tee shot at the fifteenth costing two. A finely-constructed birdie at the last brought him in two over par. Thomson, still a magnet for golfing crowds, played some great and effortless shots, but he never looked in command. Even at the last hole, when he struck a 30-foot putt beautifully, he waited, with head turned away, for the crowd’s roar to confirm that the ball had dropped in for his birdie. Clements has seldom hit the ball so well, and he would hrve been much closer to the leaders but for quite uncharacteristic putting lapses. He three-putted the fourth from four feet, and missed one of 12 inches at the thirteenth. Disastrous 14th Richards seemed likely to be one of the leaders when he went to the fourteenth tee three under, for he had to that stage played grand and convincing golf. But a thin drive left him in the rough, a bad iron put him in the creek, and he took a 6, Before the end, he dropped another one. But it was a fine effort. Of the players of whom most was expected, none started more unhappily than the South African, Legrange. He dropped four strokes in five holes, with the fifth hole the most distressing. He put his second through the green and was then forced to play with his head buried in a young fir tree. It obviously did not help him, for he took two chips and then two putts. In the early stages his irons were inaccurate, his putting ordinary. And he was four over at the turn. Then Legrange found himself and had a homeward run of 32, four under. Dramatic Start

Tall and spare, the South African, Davies, had i particularly encouraging start to the tournament. He found the hole with an eight-iron approach at the first for an eagle 2. By the turn he was back to square. He hit the ball great distances but it was his putting which impressed on the way home—a 20-footer for a saving bogey at the eleventh, a 30-footer for a birdie at the thirteenth after he had also had one at the previous hole. He was again two under, but he lost both strokes to return a scratch round. Another South African, C. Amin, did well with a 73, particularly as he had a badly blistered foot which persuaded him to wear, for the first few holes, a golf shoe on his right foot and a walking shoe on his left. He said he was not inconvenienced, by the blister or the shoe.