Christopher Wood has a four-shot lead heading into day two after a stunning course record at Milbrook. Photo / Photosport
Christopher Wood has a four-shot lead heading into day two after a stunning course record at Milbrook. Photo / Photosport
Steven Alker has proven that he’s still got what it takes to compete at the highest level as he made a strong start to the New Zealand Open in Queenstown – but he and everyone else will be chasing runaway leader Christopher Wood.
Wood, one of the last to tee off in the first round at Millbrook, shot the best round of his professional career, carding a sensational 10-under 61 to take a four-stroke lead into day two.
The Australian’s almost flawless 18 was also good enough to claim the official course record at Millbrook’s Remarkables course.
A buzzing Wood said he “made no mistakes” as his putter started to catch fire.
“Second lowest round ever, but definitely my lowest in a tournament. So this is very special,” he said after his round.
“I played pretty solid all day. The putter got hot pretty early and just rode the momentum as the round went on.
“I’ve sort of been playing average, but the last tournament back in Australia I played pretty decent the last three rounds, so I knew the game was coming around nicely. Definitely wasn’t expecting to play this well today, but it’s definitely nice to shoot 10-under.”
Alker, who held a tie for the lead for most of the day, shot a six-under 65 to sit in a six-way tie for second – four shots behind Wood.
Steve Alker shares a joke with his caddie during his first round of the New Zealand Open. Photo / Photosport
The 51-year-old was happy with his start, which included seven birdies and one bogey, and was even slightly disappointed not to go lower in close to perfect conditions.
“I got a nice little start,” he said after his round. “Birdied the first couple of holes, so I settled down and got into a bit of a groove.
“I kind of felt like I just left a little bit out there because there wasn’t much wind today. I didn’t get the par fives on my back nine, the front nine of the Remarkables, so a little bit disappointing.
“But overall the score was good. I just kept my nose clean most of the day. I think I had a three-putt in there, but apart from that it was pretty good.”
Alker, who played with 24-year-old DP World Tour rookie Daniel Hillier, was significantly shorter off the tee than his younger compatriot but excelled with his ball striking, epitomised on his last hole where he almost dunked it from 100 metres for a tap-in birdie to finish the day.
He said he was pleased with most aspects of his game and hopes to keep pushing all week.
“You can see that I was trying to push for a couple more if I could. You’ve just got to keep pushing all week especially if there’s no wind. Depends on the weather at the weekend but we’ll see what happens.”
Steve Alker hits a drive during his first round of the New Zealand Open in Queenstown. Photo / Photosport
Alker shares second with fellow Kiwi Kit Bittle, Australian Tom Power Horan, Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul and Japanese duo Yosuke Asaji and Tomoyo Ikemura.
Hillier, who had legendary caddie Steve Williams on his bag, was six shots behind the lead in a solid round, but would rue two costly three-putts for bogey.
He was full of praise for Alker, who on the opposite end of his career showed the younger golfers how it’s done on day one.
“He’s rock solid,” Hillier said of Alker. “He’s shown that he can really compete at the highest level and definitely showed that today as well. It’s pretty cool to be able to go toe-to-toe with him for most of the day. And hopefully have another good day like that tomorrow.”
