Golf: Rookie stays in contention

By BOB PEARCE

While all around him more favoured players were dropping shots, , young Wellington professional Gareth Paddison never faltered at the New Zealand Open yesterday.

Sixteen pars, a birdie and an eagle later, the 22-year-old lefthander had vaulted up the Middlemore leader board to start today one shot behind joint leaders, Australians Alan Patterson and Chris Downes on 137, seven under par.

Paddison is level with first-round leader Craig Jones and one clear of Kiwis David Smail and Mahal Pearce. Grant Waite and Remuera amateur Brad Heaven are also in the top 10.

Michael Campbell slipped to five shots off the pace with a one-over 73, one ahead of Michael Long. Phil Tataurangi also shot 73 to be level par for 36 holes and Frank Nobilo missed the cut after a 76 for five-over.

Paddison, Australasian tour rookie of the year last season, showed great composure, playing in the afternoon when traffic had made the greens bumpy and a tricky wind complicated club selection.

In fact, the pitching wedge he holed for his eagle on the par-four third was something of a misshit. He had put his three-wood tee shot just into the rough, and from 112m he aimed his second left of the pin.

But it went straight, took one hop and lipped into the hole.

"I got very frustrated at not making any birdies after my eagle," said Paddison. "I was hitting some good shots into the greens but not scoring.

"My caddie, Matthew Griffiths, made me realise that no-one was doing much on the scoreboard and I decided to just knuckle down.

"To finish on a course like this with no bogeys was awesome."

Paddison finally had his reward on the par-five 17th where his five-iron second rolled through the green, but he managed to get up and down for a birdie.

Starting in the second to last pairing this afternoon will be something of a test for Paddison's maturity, but he is confident he can handle the pressure.

"If I can go out there to try to do well but accept what happens, I will have achieved something worthwhile."

If it is any consolation, the joint leaders are both just as inexperienced in the pressure zone of third day leadership.

The Victorian Patterson, who added a 71 to the 66 he shot on day one, admitted to having watched the Australian Open tennis late into the night to try to get to sleep.

"I was very, very nervous when I got to the course today and I bogeyed the first hole. But my putting was pretty good again.

"My goal at the start was to be in the top 30, but I'm going to have to reassess that. Leading is a very new experience for me but I'm looking forward to it."

Downes, a Queenslander who celebrates his 23rd birthday today, added a 70 to his first round 67. He needed a 7.5m putt to save par on his first hole and also had a chip-in birdie on the 15th.

He would have had the lead outright but for a bogey on his last hole of the day, when his ball was plugged in a green-side bunker.

Downes was second after the first round of the Australian Open last year, but this is the first time he has led starting a third round.

Starting on the ninth, Smail raced away to six under for the tournament after nine holes, but then pushed his drive on the 18th out of bounds, charged a putt and ended up with a triple-bogey seven. He fought his way back to finish with a 70 and must be a strong contender today.

Pearce, a Dunedin pro who had his best season on the Aussie tour last year after three years of struggle, suffered from some wayward tee shots before three birdies in a row at the turn, including a holed bunker shot, saw him add a 70 to his first-round 69.

Waite's 69 had by his own account "a bit of everything going". But there were some good putts to lift his hopes of even better things today.

Campbell never got a consistently good run going, while Tataurangi double bogeyed on the first, when his second shot from the rough flew over the green out of bounds. Both finished with one-over 73s.

The leaders start at 2pm today. Paddison will be at 1.51pm, Smail at 1.42pm, Waite and Pearce at 1.33pm, Campbell at 12.57pm and Tataurangi at 11.45am.