Turner sinks pressure putt

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 44

Turner sinks pressure putt

NZPA-AAP Melbourne On the eighteenth green at Yarra Yarra yesterday, the Dunedin professional, Greg Turner, aged 23, lined up a possible 35-foot birdie putt in the $134,000 Victorian Open championship. At the time he was already assured of a cheque for $9246 for third place in the championship. “I’ve got to go for it now,” he said to himself and with the aid of his five iron did just that.

The huge gallery gasped as the putt kept rolling towards the hole and finally made it It gave Turner the day’s best round of 66, equalling the previous best on the opening day by a West Australian, Craig Parry, and lifted Turner to finish equal second with the earlier leader, Vaughan Somers. The putt also added an extra $2613 to Turner’s pay cheque for the 72hole championship which was won by one stroke by Ossie Moore, of Queensland. If Turner had not bo-

geyed the 13th, the birdie could have lifted him into the winner’s circle or at the worst into a play-off. “I am pretty pleased — I went out today with the idea of putting in a good score and I did it,” he declared. Despite yesterday’s equal second placing, Turner does not rate it as one of his best performances. He ranks his New Zealand P.G.A. win and a play-off in the Singapore Open as more important Turner plans now to play in Hong Kong and

then for five or six weeks in Asia before going to Europe, where he qualified through the players school last year. Turner yesterday easily overshadowed other New Zealanders, who had to be content with some of the minor money. Peter Hamblett and Simon Owen both shot 293 for the 72 holes while Frank Nobilo reached 300 for his four rounds. Nobilo showed just how much a golfer can really mix a championship round and still come out

even with par. Well out of range of any of the big money yesterday, Nobilo had a card of 228 — 12 over par — when he hit off in yesterday’s final round. He started with a bogey five then over the next eight holes carded par, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, par, par then an eagle three, in that order to get through the front nine in 35 — just one under. His back card read bogey, bogey, par, bogey, par, bogey, eagle, par and birdie to come home in 37 for a par 72 round.