Confidence the key for Kiwis

Confidence is key for the Kiwi trio of defending champion Michael Hendry, Ryan Fox and Ben Campbell entering the ISPS Handa New Zealand Open, starting in Queenstown tomorrow.

Campbell (12:55pm Millbrook) comes off his breakthrough professional win at the NZ PGA Championship at the weekend, while Fox (8:03am The Hills) has taken time out to refresh and re-focus following his tie for third in his European Tour event in Malaysia.

Hendry (7:52am The Hills) may not have been in his best form this year, but the 2017 winner is pleased that his hard work is starting to pay off.

"My form hasnt been great but I feel I have played better than my results. I have been working particularly hard and was happy with how I played today," said Hendry.

"Confidence levels and expectations are always changing but it takes a certain amount of pressure off. I dont have to prove anything to anyone that I can win it because Ive done it.

"That said I would love anything in the world to win it again and I have done pretty well defending golf tournaments.

Fox said his run of top finishes in three big tournaments in a row in France, Ireland and Scotland last year, has given him belief.

"I believe I can compete out there and after those three weeks. I was competing against the best players in the world and playing with the likes of Jon Rahm and Justin Rose," said Fox.

"Sometimes belief is hard without the results and thankfully I've got results to back it up now and Im starting to believe. At the start of last year, I was a little bit of an unknown and I probably didn't believe as much as I should of.

"The best players in the world believe that they are the best players in the world. There are guys that have got that far almost on confidence alone. It's the mental side of the game, the belief and the confidence which is the big part of it."

Campbell is full of confidence after his resounding victory in the NZ PGA Championship, and has the benefit of returning to his home course; Millbrook Resort.

"It's always nice I suppose getting the monkey off your back and I played pretty solid last week," said Campbell.

"I learned quite a bit in the Open and it gave me more confidence and that I felt like I should be here."

He will be hoping once again that the support from his local Queenstown friends and family will help boost his confidence.

144 professionals will contest the $1.2 million tournament at Millbrook Resort and The Hills tomorrow. There is a cut to the top-60 players plus ties to contest the final two rounds at Millbrook Resort.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ