Golf: Fitter Tataurangi sets sights on improved form

Phil Tataurangi is back where he wants to be. Now, the New Zealand golfer just needs to show some form.

He returned to the PGA Tour in the United States last weekend but missed the second-round cut in the BC Open after shooting rounds of 74 and 70.

It ended an 11-month absence from the tour for Tataurangi, whose career was under threat last May when he was diagnosed with a herniated disc.

"It was pretty good. The body's in good shape, handling the workload no problem," Tataurangi said of his comeback.

He admitted to having some nerves about rejoining the tour, on which he has a 29-event medical extension, but was happy with his showing despite missing the cut by two shots.

"It was a fairly small-sized PGA Tour event ... I sort of slipped in under the radar," he said from his home in Dallas, Texas.

"I was a little bit nervous but at the same time I knew I was ready for it, I knew the body was up to it and I'd been working on the game for a while."

He expects his results to improve as he adjusts to the mental demands of preparing for and playing on a tour where the standard continues to rise.

"Everyone continues to get better, the standard is higher," he said.

The 32-year-old expects to play eight more events on the PGA Tour this year before returning to New Zealand in October and competing on the Australasian Tour before Christmas.

Tataurangi said he enjoyed playing in Australia, where he won the Australian PGA Championship in 1996, and looked forward to playing some more tournaments there.

He said he was a "likely" starter for the New Zealand Open in Auckland from January 20-23.

He was a late scratching at the event this year after suffering a back injury.

He returned to minor tournament play only in April, at the Hawkes Bay pro-am, before heading back to the US.

Tataurangi played in four secondary Nationwide Tour events, which he said helped him to prepare for his return to the PGA Tour.

"Playing the Nationwide helped, otherwise I would have been going in cold turkey. Even though they are smaller [events] they are still very competitive."

His next PGA Tour start is this week's Buick Open, starting on Friday (NZ time), followed by The Invitational, starting on August 5.

- NZPA