Golf: English journeyman Tunnicliff knows all about holding his nerve

Miles Tunnicliff was for nine years a typical hard luck story until he won the Great North Open in 2002.

That win, which he dedicated to his mother who had died of cancer two weeks earlier, provided the Englishman with the confidence he had always lacked.

His talent, though, was enough to win again on tour last year when he held off a quality field to head the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles. He's hardly the kind of name that demands attention or the kind of personality who unsettles an opponent with his very presence but he starts today's final round at the New Zealand Open as the likeliest winner.

Golf at this level is about nerve. Making a solid swing when the pressure is on. Tunnicliff is one of the few in contention who has proven capable of doing that. Only Niclas Fasth, starting four shots off the lead, can lay claim to winning a tournament of any note.

"I think it will help, yes," says Tunnicliff of his previous wins on tour. "I have been here before and managed to do it. "

If he does win, he'll get there on conservatism. Risk taking is not his game - hit the fairways, land the approach, sink the putt. It sounds dull, which is an issue as golf is coming under fire for being boring to watch.

Which is maybe why he was happy to joke about his strategy.

"I'll go out there, hit 60 and win," he said. "Nah, it all depends on the wind again. I have got to keep playing the way I'm playing, hole some putts and we'll see what happens.

But for a careless finish where he dropped two shots on the closing holes, Tunnicliff would have been the outright leader.

Some may have walked off raging after a finish like that. The 36-year-old saw it as a lesson, a welcome reminder of how tough the closing stretch is at Gulf Harbour.

"As I said yesterday, this course needs wind. It bared its teeth today and played a lot tougher, especially those last couple of holes. "

So far Tunnicliff has only won tournaments in even years. He's poised to give the odd numbers a try.


- Herald on Sunday