Shearer surprise winner of N.Z. Open golf

Press, 11 December 1978, Page 36

Shearer surprise winner of N.Z. Open golf

From 808 SCHUMACHER in Wanganui Bob Shearer could not believe that he was the 1978 New Zealand Open golf champion when the tournament ended in drenching rain at Belmont yesterday.

“Incredible, incredible,”' said the 30-year-old Austra-j (ian, shaking his head in disbelief. Suiting the final round, Shearer was equal third on even-par 210 and eight strokes behind his compatriot. Ted Ball, who held a six-shot lead and seemed the obvious winner,! such was the command of his game. No-one expected Ball to collapse in the dramatic manner he did, least of all Shearer, who felt genuinely sorry for his countryman. "I know the feeling,” he said. “I was hoping to score 66 or 67 and get second placing: there's a lot to bei said for plugging away.” But his final round of 671 on a bleak and wet day was! a little more than just! “plugging awav.” It is important to psoition tee shots: at Belmont and Shearer did! that expertly vesterday, avoiding the troublesome long rough on most holes. He made a steady start, eight pars in succession before scoring his first birdie at the ninth. While he and his playing partner, Brian Barnes (Scotland) were going along nicely, Ball was striking disaster after disaster. When he reached the turn, he had taken a 41 and was back to two-under for the tournament.

Ball’s decline threw the tournament wide open at the

turn, with eight players separated by no more than four I hosts. Barnes and Ball were! two-under. Shearer was a stroke behind. Mark Lye and Scott Simpson, two young Americans, were souare, and the Australians, Kel Nagle and Bob Shaw, and the halfway leader. Bob Risch (United States), still had outside chances a shot further back.

With four holes to go, the position had become intriguing: Lye with birdies at JI and 14 had moved to three-under, as had Barnes with a birdie on the short twelfth. Shearer, with a birdie at 11. was one stroke behind them and Simpson, after scoring his third eagle tn four rounds at the fourteenth, was also two Under. In spite of a birdie at 12. Ball’s fall from grace continued with a two-over six

on 13 and Shaw, Nagle, and Risch had dropped strokes and had fallen from the pace. On the fifteenth, a long par three. Shearer holed a 5m putt for a birdie and he and Barnes remained at the under until the last hole. Lye dropped a shot on 16 and played the last hole pocrly to drop two more strokes. A play-off seemed likely when both Barnes and Shearer missed the green with their approaches. Barnes was bunkered and came out 3m short. Shearer, some distance short of the green, chipped expertly to within 12cm and suddenly Barnes was faced with an extreme pressure putt. But it was not a day for the Scots. Less than 12

hours earlier the Ail Blacks had gained a historic win against Scotland in the rugby international. Barnes also had to accept second placing and his missed putt might have cost him $l9OO, the difference between the first and second prize money. Barnes, who has been regarded as one of Brtian’s top plavers for the last decade, did not realise until later that the putt, had it been successful, would have placed him in a play-off with Shearer. i It seemed strange that he did not give it much attention. “But not to worry,” I said Barnes. “It has been nice to come to New Zealand and play a couple of tournaments. I’m not displeased. I suppose I would have concentrated more had I known but I would have still probably missed it.” That casual statement summed up Barnes’ attitude throughout the tournament.

He did not always appear to fully concentrate on his golf, spending his time between shots joking with spectators. He even managed to find time to drink a can of beer while walking the fourteenth fairway yesterday. Shearer, whose last big win was the Colgate champion of champions event in Australia last year, had a good year in the United States, winning $56,000. He considered the vital hole for

him was the seventeenth. Bunkered with his second, he exploded to within 4m and holed the putt. “That was the turning point for me,” he said. The course was more difficult than people had believed.

One stroke behind Barnes was the genial 23-year-old from California, Simpson. He could not sustain the accuracy and consistency of his opening two rounds but he impressed as a thoughtful, talented player who was much in the hunt after his eagle on 14. But he dropped a stroke on 16 and was unable to improve his position over the concluding holes. The unfortunate Ball and Lye tied for fourth on 282. Ball set the scene for his calamitous round on the

first hole. A hooked drive, weak second, chip, and three putts gave him a two-over and he never recovered. There was an obvious lack of confidence in many of his shots.

Four players tied for sixth place: Risch, Nagle, Peter Headland (Australia), and Craig Owen, New Zealand’s best placed professional., Owen had two fine rounds of 67 and 70 at the weekend and finished four shots ahead of his illustrious brother, Simon, who was second best of the New Zealand competitors. Geoff Saunders (Christchurch) failed by one stroke

to win his second Btedisloe Cup, awarded to the top amateur. That honour went to the Wellington Freyberg No. 1, Phil Mosley. He had 76 yesterday and Saunders shot 77.

Saunders had a disastrous 42 on the first nine, including a three-over on the ninth, but played the back nine in par figures. In miserable conditions yesterday, eight players succeeded in breaking par and five equalled par. The best round was 66 by Billy Dunk (Australia), who was celebrating his fortieth birthday. Dunk would have won any prize for inconsistency: his rounds were 74, 67, 81, and 66.

Saturday was a nightmare for many of the players. They were battered in body and soul as they were blown around by a gusting westerly wind.

It was not uncommon to see players pulling away from putts as the wind from putts as the wind moved their balls. One player was bowled over by a strong squall. The wind made mockery of scores and only four professionals were capable of breaking par 70. Craig Owen and David Good (Australia), playing together, had memorable rounds of 67, as did Barnes, whose background allowed him to adapt more readily to the almost galeforce wind.

Ball, whose 64 on Friday had taken him to within one shot of the leader, fared best of the leading group and his 68 gave him a six-stroke break but one that was to prove insufficient. Mosley, and the American professional, Bob Clark, equalled par, and Mosley’s sterling effort elevated him to equal first of the amateurs with Saunders. Mosley was one of 11 golfers who had just made the second round cut-off in 149. But for many prominent players, the unrelenting win'd ended any prospects of a win. The New Zealand challenge came to grief as the best-placed trio at halfway, Bob Charles, Simon Owen, and Richard Coombes, all failed to combat the conditions. Charles, never happy in strong winds, slumped to 77, Owen made no progress with 74, and Coombes collapsed to 78.

They were not aione in their failings. Twice winner of the open, Dunk, was 14 shots worse than his second round in scoring 81, his compatriot, Rob McNaughton, had 78, and the promising young American, Bill Sandem, was left quite bewildered after hitting 77. In all, 11 players had rounds of 80 or more.

The overnight leader, Risch, had an unsettling start with three putts on the first hole and struggled for his pars on the next four holes. A birdie at the sixth returned him to seven-under for the touarnament but he dropped shots at seven, eight, and nine before birdieing the eleventh. However, he failed to make par on the easy fourteenth, dropped another shot on 16, and needed a 2m putt on the last to prevent him from losing two further strokes.

Ball considered his Saturday round to be one of his best. He was pleased to have controlled the ball “as it was so easy to have blown strokes away out there.”