Tournament aggregate by young American a record

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33694, 18 November 1974, Page 28

Tournament aggregate by young American a record

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND. When just the smallest chance remained that S. P. Ginn, of Australia, might yet catch him, T. Kite, of the United States, dropped in an eagle on his way to winning the City of Auckland Golf Classic by seven strokes at the Grange yesterday.

The blond American finished the four rounds with scores of 66, 67, 68, and 67 to lie a record 16 strokes under the card for the tournament. He added $5OOO to his winnings this season which left him twenty-fifth on the United States prize-money list in only his second seasonas a professional.

There was something coolly precise—almost mechanical — in the manner over the four days in which Kite’s approaches to the green consistently followed the line of the pin and his putts un-

i erringly zeroed in on the , holes. In his final round he had only 26 putts. Of the seven holes from the eleventh to the seventeenth holes he made only eight putts. Many of these were between five • and 12 feet. Starting the final round : with a four-stroke lead over 1 Ginn, Kite had increased this • to six strokes by the turn and the race was all but over. ; Then at the same time that • Kite actually dropped a • stroke — at the tenth — ; Ginn dropped in a 16-foot ■ birdie putt at the eleventh, ‘ and the possibility of a final ■ desperate struggle glimmered again. But if Ginn could sink a 17footer then Kite could sink a 1 longer one, and he did — also at the eleventh. EAGLE And just in case there was still some fight left in Ginn, Kite followed a long drive at the par-5 twelfth with a fine putt to give him an eagle • and put him 7 up. 1 If just a hint of some 1 wavering with his tee shots, and others existed, from 1 there to the end Kite could 1 always fall back on his immaculate putting. In a final ironic moment 1 when many of the final day’s crowd of near 4000 were watching his last putts on the : eighteenth, Kite missed one of the sort he had been sinking over the last four days. A feeling persisted before the round that H. Green, also • from the United States — although way back — might . still offer some threat to the two leaders, but this did not ■ eventuate. J. Newton (Australia), the winner of the tournament two years ago, started with a burst of birdie, birdie, par, birdie, which help lift him into fifth equal. But like so many others he started the round too far back to worry the leaders. J. M. Lister (New Zealand) was one of six to score 1 a four-under-par 67 (scoring five birdies), and this lifted him to fourth. THIRD PLACE Not everything went ideally for E. Ball (Australia), but he played well enough to hold on to third with a 70. It was up to Ginn to catch Kite. But when Ginn failed to clear a tree on the third and Kite birdied this hole — and the fifth and the sixth — it was all over. Final scores:— 268—Kite. 66. 67. 68, 67 ($5000). 275—Ginn. 64. 69. 72. 70 ($3000). 281— Ban. 70. 69. 72. 70 ($2250). 282— Lister, 73, 69,-73, 67.

283—M. Bohen (United States), 71, 69, 76, 67; Green, 68, 71, 73, 71; K. G. D. Nagle (Australia), 74, 73, 68, 68; Newton, 71, 71, 73, 68; R. Shearer (Australia), 75, 70, 71, 67. 285— E. W. Dunk (Australia), 71. 73, 67, 74. 286— W. J. Godfrey (New Zealand), 71, 72, 72, 71; P. D. Murray (Australia), 73, 74, 73, 66. 287— P. Flrmstone 71, 74, 69, 73; B. W. Jones (Australia), 71, 72, 77, 67; L. Sharp (Australia), 68, 74, 73, 72; P. W. Thomson (Australia), 71, 72, 74, 70; H. Underwood (United States), 74, 71, 74, 68. 288— T. Kendall (New Zealand), 74, 69, 72, 73. 289— T. Linskev (Australia), 71, 74, 75, 69; D. Park (Australia), 72, 76, 71, 70; R. Vines (Australia), 72, 74, 76, 67. 291— R. J. Charles (New Zealand), 73, 75, 70, 73; F. ConaUin (New Zealand), 73, 72, 76, 70; A. Cooper (Australia), 77, 70, 71, 73; M. Ferguson (Australia), 68, 75, 74, 74; D. Galbraith (United States), 73, 68, 77, 73; R. McNickle (United States), 69, 73, 75, 74; E. Pearce (United States), 73, 76, 69, 73; F. Phillips (Australia), 76, 74, 70, 71; D. Pooley (United States), 69, 75, 76, 71; J. Reid (New Zealand), 71, 71, 72, 77; N. Wood (Scotland), 70, 74, 74, 73. 292— *P. N. Croker (Australia), 73, 71, 72, 76; F. Malloy (New Zealand), 73, 72, 70, 75; A. Miller (United States), 69, 70, 77, 76. 293— R. Braithwaite (Australia), 70, 75, 76. 72; -R. Coombes (New Zealand), 70, 75, 78, 70; B. Gilder (United States), 74, 71, 77, 71; D. Iverson (United States), 72. 74, 78, 69; W. Macintosh (New Zealand), 69, 77, 77, 70; R. MetheraU (Australia), 70, 75, 77, 71. 294— T. Ireland (Australia), 72, 73, 72, 77. 295— D. Galloway (Australia), 78, 72, 74, 71; M. Tapper (Australia), 73, 76, 75, 71; R. Taylor (Australia), 71, 78. 71, 75. 296— J. Schroeder (United States), 74, 74, 72, 76; A. Snape (New Zealand), 77, 72, 75, 72. 297— B Boys (New Zealand), 73, 74, 73, 77; M. Krantz (United States), 72, 69, 77 79. 298— J. Sheargold (Australia), 74, 74, 74, 76. 299— S. Bellis (United States), 73, 74, 74. 78. 301— -T. Pulman (New Zealand), 74, 72, 80, 75; *K. Hankin (New Zealand), 70, 79, 77, 75; *P. Carrigan (New Zealand), 74, 76, 75, 76. 302— W. Branthwalte (New Zealand), 69, 77, 77, 79; K. Francis (Australia), 71, 77, 76, 78.