Golf: Turner wets baby's head

MELBOURNE - New Zealand golfer Greg Turner yesterday heeded his wife's instructions and prevailed in a topsy-turvy final round to claim the Australian PGA Championship in Melbourne.

Turner shot an even-par 72 at the Victoria Golf Club to finish the $A300,000 ($382,000) tournament at 10-under for a two-shot margin over second-placed Queenslander Shane Tait.

West Australian Craig Parry, who went head-to-head with Turner over the last 18 holes and briefly took the lead at the 14th, faded in the run home to tie for third, one stroke further back.

Turner said his wife, Jane, who gave birth to the couple's second child a fortnight ago, had been "very understanding" about his entering the tournament.

"The last thing she said to me was, 'If you're going to leave a week after we've had a baby, you'd better win'."

Apart from the closing couple of holes, it turned into a tense battle for the Dunedin golfer, who began the day with a three-shot cushion over Parry and another West Australian, Nick O'Hern.

Turner and Parry, who were team-mates during the Rest of the World's famous victory over the United States in the President's Cup in Melbourne a year ago, were paired together the final round.

Parry began a charge in mid-round and snatched the lead at the par-three 14th, which he birdied to Turner's three-putt bogey.

But the tables were immediately turned at the next hole, when Parry miscued his drive and could manage just a bogey, while Turner sank a 1.5m birdie putt.

Turner, whose putting overall was impressive, kept his cool to record his fifth career victory in an Australasian Tour event and grab the winner's cheque of $A54,000.

Turner did not believe at the start of the day that a par round would have been enough to win.

"It's a difficult golf course. There was a blustery breeze and the final round is different - there's a bit of cat and mouse. You take them any way you can and to get your name on a trophy like this is a nice way to round out the millennium."

- NZPA