Australia's Ryan Peake celebrates winning the 104th NZ Open golf tournament at Millbrook Resort. Photo / Photosport
Australia's Ryan Peake celebrates winning the 104th NZ Open golf tournament at Millbrook Resort. Photo / Photosport
Bikie-turned-golf champion Ryan Peake says he put family members through hell on the way to a New Zealand Open victory in Queenstown that has made waves around the world.
The 31-year-old from Perth is a former Rebels gang member who spent five years in jail for assault, leaving his promising golf career in tatters.
But a major redemption day arrived at the New Zealand Open, the nail-biting victory bringing Peake the prestige of a champion, $360,000 and automatic entry into July’s British Open.
Peake told Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham his thoughts quickly turned to family after nailing the winning putt on the 18th green at Millbrook.
“There’s just so much pain and grief and happiness and misery and every emotion you can think of I’ve put them through,” said Peake, who is staying on in New Zealand to compete in the PGA Championship at Hastings.
“They were just an absolute wreck for me on that last day, so I sent them a message in the morning and said ‘look, I’ve had a good sleep, I’m ready to go and feeling fine'.
“This is a story that I brought upon myself. I genuinely think there are lots of other stories that people have gone through that are more heartache and misery not from their own doing.
“I don’t want to be that guy that takes all this media attention as such from doing upon myself.
“There are lots of other guys who deserve it just as much and probably even more.”
Peake was good enough as a junior to represent Australia on the international stage, including the 2010 World Teams Championship in Japan.
He was also in the Australian team alongside future major winner Cam Smith who beat a New Zealand side that included Lydia Ko in the 2010 Trans-Tasman Cup in Wellington.
Australia’s Ryan Peake celebrates his NZ Open triumph. Photo / Photosport
But his life took a sharp turn and Peake only dabbled with golf while in the Rebels gang.
“I’d pretty much given it away,” he said.
“I knew at that point I wasn’t going to be a professional golfer, it wasn’t my career. I had other things I was looking into.
“I might have gone out now and then to show my face, maybe fake my way through so people thought I was doing what I was doing. I pretty much put the clubs down for two years.”
The New Zealand Open victory may open a few doors, although he isn’t getting carried away.
“Some opportunities have popped up in the last few hours, but New Zealand as a country, I love this place and don’t want to leave it just yet,” he said.
“I’d love to stay another week and just enjoy it. It’s such an amazing country.
“I don’t feel like I’ve made it, that this is it. I’m making small steps back to where – if my life hadn’t gone astray – I should be. There’s bigger and better to achieve, but it’s nice to be stepping in the right direction.”
