AMERICAN SCORES FIVE-STROKE WIN It was Heard all the way on final day of Classic

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32770, 22 November 1971, Page 26

AMERICAN SCORES FIVE-STROKE WIN It was Heard all the way on final day of Classic

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

There were probably huge sighs of relief from all the professional golfers playing the New Zealand circuit this summer when the genial American, Jerry Heard, left Christchurch Airport on his homeward trip last evening. On the evidence of his impressive five-stroke victory in the Garden City Classic, which ended at Russley yesterday, the 24-year-old Californian would have left the leading Australians and New Zealanders scrambling for the minor prize money if he had stayed for the remaining tournaments.

Heard produced a sizzling final round of 64, which emphasised his tremendous skill and gave him a commanding victory.

This effort equalled the course record set by last year’s winner, P. A. Harvey (Australia), and Heard’s 72hole aggregate of 269—an average of about six under par a round —beat by three strokes the previous best for Russley, established by K. D. G. Nagle in 1969. Had R. J. Charles putted with his usual accuracy, the contest for first place might have been closer. The New Zealander started the final round only one stroke behind Heard, and although he held on to second place with a last throw of 68, he could not get the putts that mattered to go down. Leading five After the third round on Saturday, only five players had chances of winning the classic, and it was this quintet which dominated the final stages of the $15,000 event

Nagle and the English-born Australian, G. B. Wolstenholme, tied for third place, two strokes behind Charles, and G. V. Marsh (Australia) was a further stroke away, in fifth position.

Heard’s final round was richly bedecked with seven birdies and an eagle. He played both halves in 32. “I had. been having real slow starts in the previous rounds, but today I got my

putter working early and this made all the difference,” he drawled.

Superb irons The broad-shouldered Californian was unhappy with his drives, most of which displayed a tendency to fade. But his superb iron play had the huge gallery in raptures. Apart from the thirteenth, where he scored his eagle, he putted for birdies on all other holes except the fourteenth. “I knew I had the tournament wrapped up when I got that eagle at the thirteenth," he said. “But I was pretty lucky; I aimed a 6-iron shot at the green from down in the hollow, and the ball just kept bouncing. Then all I had to do was to go to work on that 12ft putt.” But in the minds of many spectators Heard's greatest shot was his second at the ninth hole. His faded drive left the ball sitting an inch above the lip of a fairway bunker, and he had to address the ball with his right foot in the sand and his left foot on the top of the trap. Anything less than a perfect shot would have meant disaster, but Heard delivered a stinging uppercut with his 4-iron and sent the ball 200 yd, leaving him with an easy pitch to the green. And, of course, he got his birdie. Great recoveries There were other displays of his skill in tight comers at the fourteenth, where his chip shot hit the pin after he had dropped out from under a hoarding, and at the

sixteenth, where he lobbed the ball to within sft of the hole after being denied a normal backswing by his position in a greenside bunker. His iron play was so splendid and his putting so accurate that the outcome was obvious long before the last hole.

"He’s just got to potter along to win,” a woman spectator said after his eagle at the thirteenth. She was certainly correct, even if “pottering” was scarcely the correct term to describe his brand of golf. After being presented with a diamond-studded, goldplated putter at the end of the tournament, Charles said that he could have done with it a few days earlier. He often started walking before his ball had reached the hole —and this was a sure sign that all was not well with him on the greens. Begins in mind “I had no confidence in my putting,” he said. “My stroke was bad and except for the first nine holes on Saturday (when he scored five birdies) I was not at all assured in this phase of the game. "I have always felt that successful putting begins in the mind—the stroke is academic. Unless you believe you are going to hole the putts, then you won’t “Even when I opposed Gary Player in the Piccadilly tournament, on perfect greens, I could not get my putts in. I hope it is just a passing phase.” Charles played with great authority from tee to green and the quality of his iron play kept him in the running until the fifteenth, where his tee shot caught a greenside bunker. He came out well, but missed a sft putt for Ids par. Charles had 33 putts yesterday, and a total of 125 for the four rounds. "I did not have a three-putt all week, but the significant point was that I couldn’t get enough one-putts.” Shot to remember

His iron shots formed the basis of his best round, a 67 on Saturday. And it contained one of the memorable recovery shots of the classic: with his ball badly placed

under the lip of a bunker beside the tenth green, he used his putter and put the ball 3ft from the hole.

Free from his back ailment and with a third round score of 67 to boost his confidence, Nagle made a grand start yesterday in his. quest to add another tournament to his impressive list of New Zealand successes. He birdied four of the first eight holes —and almost holed a wedge for an eagle at the par four eighth—but he three-putted the ninth green and missed a four-footer for his par at the tenth.

“I lost my momentum at these two holes, and found I couldn’t get it back,” he said ruefully. Homeward troubles The laconic Wolstenholme kept the gallery amused with his courtly bowing after each successful birdie putt and there were five of them in six holes—and by praying On his knees after his saving putt at the tenth ambled round the back of the hole, winked at him, and fell in. But the back nine was hard going for him, and when a siren wailed as he lined up a putt on the seventeenth, he said: “They are coming for me at last.” Wolstenholme was in second place, only two shots behind Heard, as the field turned into the home straight, but he could not sustain his fine burst of putting, and surrendered his place to Charles. An eagle at the second and a birdie at the third kept Marsh in the limelight, but he failed to make the most of his chances. Other good rounds With the spotlight falling on the top five men on the final day, some of the other worthy contestants, such as S. Sewgoium, J. M. Lister, S. Onsham and T. K. Nettles, were left in the shade. But, in keeping with the high standard of performance achieved at the tournament, there were some splendid performances by the alsorans in the concluding stages. Among the amateurs, the slender Otago youngster, F. Whittaker, produced four consistent rounds, but lost by two strokes to R. M. Barltrop in this section. But all the talk in the Russley clubhouse last evening was of Heard. His performance, especially his brilliance in the last round, will be remembered for a long time.