Golf: Tree shot fails to rattle champ

By BOB PEARCE

CHRISTCHURCH - Palmerston North golfer Tim Wilkinson found fortune favouring the brave as he won the national strokeplay title by one shot at the Shirley golf course yesterday.

Wilkinson slotted home the win with an adventurous birdie on the last hole.

Ahead of him, Aucklander Chris Johns had parred the 317m 18th for a 72-hole total of level-par 288.

Wilkinson, a 21-year-old left-hander, took a driver off the tee where many others used irons to thread their way through the avenue of trees.

He hit his ball hard left into a gum tree, bouncing it through another clump of trees into the fairway. From there Wilkinson was able to make the green and sink a 4m putt for his birdie and the title.

"I was a bit lucky. But I thought Chris had made birdie and I was going for it," he said.

"This is the first time I've made the cut in the championship in four tries. In the past I've thought only of making the field. This time I decided to think about winning."

To say Wilkinson's win was a surprise would be an understatement. His only previous national form was a fourth placing in the South Island championship on the Shirley course a year ago.

Johns won the matchplay title three years ago and is a national representative. He was a member at Shirley before moving to Auckland soon after his matchplay win.

He has been a model of consistency this week with four par rounds - something that should impress the selectors who will name their team this weekend for the world championships.

Conditions were tough for most of the 36 holes yesterday. A cold southeasterly made scoring difficult, so there was great merit in the performance of Victorian left-hander Andrew Webster, the overnight leader.

Suffering from food poisoning, he still posted rounds of 74 and 74 to finish third, two strokes behind the winner. On the same score was Richard Best, of Palmerston North, who had a closing 68, and one further back was local player Carl Brooking.

Today, the top 32 players begin the first round of matchplay.