These days Tommy Lee Jones talks about his acting career interrupting his passion for polo.
His competitive streak surges to new levels when he finishes a summer shift on his Texas ranch, at his Palm Beach property or Buenos Aires equestrian centre and settles into a few hours of polo.
"It's the competition, the people and the experiences, and once you've discovered that world, it's difficult to let it go," he says.
Jones has the coin to indulge his passion for polo which has graced fields in New Zealand for more than 125 years. On Sunday at Clevedon, the NZ Open will be staged with three matches involving overseas professionals mingled around a variety of social events.
It's an interactive sport where the public will be invited onto the ground at halftime to tread down the divots kicked up by the horses. Four players in each team play four chukkas and at the highest level, competitors will sometimes change their horse after each chukka although most like to double their best ponies.
