Golf: Kiwi foursome face test playing for Open entry

Brad Iles. Photo / Getty Images

Four New Zealanders face a 36-hole examination of their golfing abilities on Tuesday [NZ time], heading into the final qualifiers for the US Open.

Brad Iles and Phil Tataurangi (Rockville, Maryland), Josh Geary (Portland, Oregon) and Tim Wilkinson (Memphis, Tennessee) will play two rounds and play-off holes if necessary to reach the event starting June 17 at Pebble Beach.

Michael Campbell is exempt after his 2005 success.

Geary and Wilkinson automatically made it into sectional qualifying because of performances this season but Iles and Tataurangi enter from polarised perspectives.

Tataurangi is aiming to qualify for his sixth major. He first played the US Open in 1998 and has played at all but the British Open since.

In contrast, it is the first time Iles has attempted to make a major field. Sixty-four other players will line up with Tataurangi and Iles. Six get through - and Wilkinson and Geary face a similar hurdle.

"I've never had time to give this sort of thing a crack previously," Iles says.

"I was too busy concentrating on holding my Asian or Nationwide Tour cards. Having said that, there is nowhere near the pressure associated with other events like the US PGA Tour qualifying school. That's really intense over three stages, including six rounds at the final event. This is more hit and miss."

Tataurangi is feeling some pressure and did not want to be interviewed at any length this week as he tries to get his game in order. He has struggled on the green this year averaging 31.50 putts a round, the sixth worst ranking on the Nationwide Tour. He has gone on to win US$20,074, making four cuts at seven events plus a purse of US$9,481 on the PGA tour.

The 38-year-old is at a point in his career where he's got to think about his future and that of his wife and two children. He will need to decide whether to continue to be based in Dallas or head home. Tataurangi is 81st on the Nationwide money list. The top 25 golfers hold their cards at the end of the season.

Iles, at 26, has no such family commitments, is 43rd on the money list with earnings of US$46,832 from 10 events, having played the weekends five times.

"My caddy Sam Pinfold and I have known each other since we were 14 and still enjoy the lifestyle going around seeing everything together like Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and New York. I love the beaches of San Diego best."

A lack of funds mean visits to tourist sites have been patchy, but Iles takes it in good heart.

"We have even started to take buses as we get more broke. It's not quite baked beans out of a tin every night but we've got smarter with budgeting in our third year here.

"Until we throw a win on the board we'll be keeping it pretty honest."

Iles says he has had some mixed form getting ready for this week, missing the cut at the latest Nationwide event in Maryland.

"I was all over the place fighting the fairways but my short game's in good shape. I got sick of sand wedging out of the rough and scrambling to the greens with third shot wedges on par fours."