Golf: Lee leads drive for Tour card

Auckland professional Richard Lee was the leading qualifier from more than 500 contenders when the first stage of qualifying for the Asian Tour was completed in Malaysia.

The huge field played four courses in the south of the country with 20 players from each venue advancing to final qualifying this week.

Lee fired an eight-under final round of 64 at Tanjong Puteri Golf and Country Club for a four-day total of 23-under-par 265.

He was the only New Zealander to advance to join 127 exempted players in the final qualifying at Palm Resort, where 40 full tour cards will be awarded.

The 31-year-old Lee, who beat Michael Campbell in 1992 to win the national amateur title, has played fulltime on the Japanese tour but finished one place out of retaining his card in 2003. He played once on the Japanese tour last year, finishing ninth in the Acom International.

The Asian tour has tournaments in Korea, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Brunei and Myanmar.

Last year the only Kiwi playing regularly was former New Zealand representative Eddie Lee, who finished 48th in the order of merit with US$46,224 ($66,000) in prizemoney from 16 events.

Veteran golfer Jay Haas, at the age of 51, last season opted to play mainly on the US PGA Tour rather than the senior circuit, earning himself a place as a captain's pick in the US Ryder Cup team.

He played in 23 tournaments, missed the cut only three times and finished in the top-10 eight times. When he did make concessions to his age, he played three Champions Tour events, finishing second twice and third once.

Haas was a popular figure both on and off the course and he has been rewarded with the Jim Murray Award by American golf writers.

The award recognises a player for cooperation, quotability, accommodation to the media and for reflecting the most positive aspects of the working relationship between athletes and journalists.

Some other sports might struggle for nominations for an award with the same criteria to be met.

News that 1991 British Open winner Ian Baker-Finch is contemplating a return to tournament golf eight years after walking away from the game will be welcomed by all New Zealand golfers.

The likeable Aussie, who has been working as a television commentator, told Golf Digest magazine that he believes he can get back to a competitive level and hopes to play some tournaments in Australasia this year.

Baker-Finch became the horror story for all golfers when he quickly went from Open champion to scarcely being able to hit a ball off the tee. Experts and fellow sufferers suggested remedies but nothing worked.

Now, with six years to go before he qualifies for the senior tour, he is thinking of trying again.

Kiwis will wish him well. He won our Open at Middlemore in 1983 and anyone who saw him practising at King's College during a more recent Open at the course will know he still has the shots.

Titirangi Golf Club, which has had an extensive reshaping in recent seasons, will have a very busy year hosting major tournaments in 2005.

First up is the Tasman Cup women's tournament against Australia on March 8-9 to be followed by the women's national strokeplay championships from March 11-13.

In November, the West Auckland club will host the men's national inter-provincial teams championship in which 14 provinces will be trying to stop Bay of Plenty winning their fourth title in a row.

Titirangi will also be the venue for the annual quadrangular men's contest involving teams from Auckland, Taranaki, Northland and Waikato on September 24-25.

This year the club was the venue for the men's Auckland provincial strokeplay championship and the junior international between Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Muriwai has been chosen for the men's Freyberg Masters in November and South Head will host the women's autumn foursomes in March.