By CHRIS RATTUE
Former New Zealand Open champion Greg Turner is not backing down from his stance on ticket prices for this year's tournament at Paraparaumu.
And he says world No 1 Tiger Woods, whose presence has produced the ticket price hike, is far from a certainty to win the tournament, which tees off on Thursday.
Turner and Craig Perks lost a close-fought transtasman test against Peter O'Malley and Peter Fowler yesterday.
Immediately afterwards, Turner again expressed his disappointment at the Woods-influenced prices, saying it left him with mixed feelings over the world superstar even being in the open field.
Prices range from $40 a day for the first two rounds to a six-day pass of $450, which takes in the four-day tournament plus the practice and pro-am rounds.
Turner's earlier protest at ticket prices did not see them adjusted, although some other concessions were made.
Turner said: "Woods brings a lot of paraphernalia to a tournament.
"My only issue is with the ticket prices. I've got mixed emotions about it [Woods' presence] because of the ticket issue.
"I've been pretty clear about my stance, which I made because I would like to see more people have the opportunity to see the Open.
"I've made my attempt [to lower the prices] but now I've got to make the best of it."
Turner said Woods might well already be the best golfer of all time and no course or conditions were Tiger-proof.
He had experienced Woods' ability to play in windy conditions first hand, and the Paraparaumu links course would not present hidden dangers to him.
Turner said he had no desire to be included in Woods' groupings over the first two rounds.
"Whether Tiger is here or not does not make a huge difference to any of us ... I don't think he is a certainty to win it," he said.
"But he is a difficult man to play with, with all the crowd support. If you're in a group with Tiger you're not even playing second fiddle. It's about eighth fiddle.
"You've got to try and not let it affect your game, and deal with it."
"Tiger has proven himself to be a good links player although none of us get to play on links much any more. But he doesn't win every week, and he's been beaten by a lot worse players than me."
Turner said he believed he had hit the best form of his career last year and rated himself a title prospect.
"Hopefully I haven't forgotten that form and I'm known to play quite well after a break," he said.
Recent rain has left the greens soft, but superb weather yesterday will have helped dry them out.
The organisers are set to announce that defending champion David Smail and maybe a seasoned Australian such as Craig Parry would join Woods.
The Kiwi golfer is chasing the LPGA Tour season title and a huge payday.