Trio tied in lead of N.S.W. golf

Press, 5 November 1977, Page 6

Trio tied in lead of N.S.W. golf

NZPA Sydney The five-times British open winner, Peter Thomson, the defending title-holder, Jack Newton, and the young Sydney professional, Geoff Smart, were tied for the lead ,in the $20,000 New South Wales open golf championship after a tension-charged second round at the picturesque Pymble Course in Sydney yesterday. Thomson, aged 47, stunned even his most ardent admirers with a brilliant round of 66, which equalled the course record. Last week’s West Lakes classic winner. Bob Shearer, also fired a 66 and is in equalsecond at five-under for the tournament.

Thomson’s brilliant round overshadowed Newton’s performance in notching his second successive 69. Thomson sunk seven birdies and faltered only once

with a bogey-five on the fourth. Smart sliced his round of. 68 with four birdies and a magnificent eagle putt of 13m on the par-five eighteenth. However, he blotted his copy - book with two bogeys on the wav home. With Thomson, Newton, and Smart all sitting on tworound aggregates of 138, the stage is set for a gripping finish.

The trio leads by a shot from a shearer, Queenslander Randall Vines, Victoria’s Stewart Ginn, Barrv Burgess, of New South Wales, and Bill}' Dunk, who all finished with a two-round total of 139. A stroke further back is another tight group of players headed by the Canadian, Gamard Hamilton, and the American, Hal Underwood.

The highest-nlaced New Zealander is Walter Godfrey , with a two-round total of 142.