KEY POINTS:
One of Mark Brown's best allies - the wind - blew away the cobwebs at the New Zealand PGA Championship yesterday and helped the progress of the Kiwi golfer.
Brown rode a buffeting wind to post a stunning six-under-par 66 to rocket from a share of 60th place to a tie for third heading into today's final round of the US$600,000 (NZ$861,000) co-sanctioned event. He was the only player to walk off the 6513m course yesterday without dropping a shot, showing the benefit of a youth spent in windy Wellington, where he learned the importance of keeping his head down and maintaining a firm grip on his cap.
On a day of high scoring, Brown ended the third round on four-under 212, just two off the lead held by American Ryan Howison, who shot 70. Australian James Nitties, who hit a 72, was a shot further back.
A cluttered leaderboard features 18 players within five strokes of Howison, among them three New Zealanders in Brown, left-hander Tim Wilkinson and Phil Tataurangi. Wilkinson is 11th equal on 214 after a 72, while Tataurangi slipped backwards, a 76 leaving him tied for 17th on 215.
Joining Brown in third are Canadian David Morland, Americans Lee Williamson and Sal Spallone and Australian Peter Senior.
Brown, 32, relished the arrival of the wind, hitting his irons with pure efficiency after counting his blessings that he even made the second-round cut. The reason he and 17 others stayed around for the last two rounds was because a bogey on the last by David Diaz saw the cut mark go from plus one to plus two.
Brown made the most of his good fortune, putting like a dream as he nailed six birdies.
Brown represented New Zealand at the 1994 Eisenhower World Amateur but his professional career failed to scale the heights of his amateur brilliance. He gave away competitive golf, only to return to this level in the middle of last year. He hinted at a good Clearwater showing with his 23rd-equal placing in Jakarta at the Indonesian Open last week. "I was pleased just to make the weekend, having made some good putts this morning [in the delayed second round] to save par. I took the attitude that I had nothing to lose," he said.
The wind, which saw the average score balloon to 75, dragged the field back to Brown, who made his move early on by sinking an "outrageous" 40-footer for birdie on his fourth hole.
"Everyone tells me these conditions will suit me but I still don't enjoy them. I don't think they're fun for anybody. If you don't get off to a good start the round can turn pear-shaped pretty quickly."
Howison can partly thank his caddy, local club player Andrew Adam, for his third-round form. After struggling through his final eight holes yesterday morning, an Adam comment about his swing turned his game around.
"I went back to the range between rounds today and the tip worked. I was just trying to survive out there today, it was a grind," he said.
Senior is well placed to challenge even after a 75 yesterday and Craig Parry, Peter Fowler (both Australia), Patrick Sheehan (USA) and Wilkinson are only two strokes further back.
- NZPA
