GOLF - Classy Tait in Nelson victory

By PETER THORLEY AND NZPA
NORTHLAND golf professional Alex Tait played with consistency under pressure to beat some of New Zealand's top golfers to win the $20,000 Nelson pro-am over 36 holes at the Nelson Golf Club yesterday.
The former Black Cap, who led by two strokes after a brilliant six-under par opening round on Saturday, shot a two-under 69 yesterday to beat Bay of Plenty's Josh Geary, Taranaki's Grant Moorhead and Waikato's Mark Purser by two shots.
"This weekend I really stuck my head down and made a concerted effort to play a little more consistently and to finish with just one bogey over 36 holes was probably the main reason I snuck home with the win," a delighted Tait said yesterday.
He said his form on the road, playing the PGA circuit over the last two weeks has been good but he had been lacking the finishing touch - something he was able to achieve yesterday under pressure from the chasing field.
"It was really rewarding today because the conditions were tough, it was raining and blowing hard over the first six or seven holes and I managed to keep my concentration, even though I made a couple of errors, to make a hell of a lot of up-and-downs," he said.
Tait's win in Nelson has taken the pressure off the rest of his season.
"It's great for me, obviously not only because of the money but because I won one of the Order-of-Merit events, I don't have to go to qualifying school next year," he said.
"Now I can play like a chopper and still be exempt into every New Zealand event next year."
The top five in the New Zealand Order of Merit from last year were all in the field at Nelson, and the win must rank as one of Tait's best in his professional career.
The victory did not qualify Tait for the Clearwater Classic, which gets underway next week and he returns home for a two-week break before playing the Tip-Top Mangawhai Pro-Am.