Steve Alker made the cut for the first time at a major as he carded a one under par 69 in round two of the British Open to climb to a share of 11th place. Photo / Getty Images.
Steve Alker made the cut for the first time at a major as he carded a one under par 69 in round two of the British Open to climb to a share of 11th place. Photo / Getty Images.
Hamilton golfer Steve Alker made the cut for the first time at a major as he carded a one under par 69 in round two of the British Open to climb to a share of 11th place.
Forty-nine years after Sir Bob Charles became the first New Zealand golfer towin a major, also at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Kiwi golf fans have another of their own in contention at golf's oldest major.
The 40-year-old Alker, who missed the cut in his previous two appearances at The Open in 1998 and 2007, backed up his 69 from round one to get to a two under par total, eight shots back from American leader Brandt Snedeker.
Alker started poorly with bogeys on holes two and three but he got one back with a birdie on the par 3 fourth, before dropping another shot at the sixth to slump to two over par for the day.
But the former New Zealand PGA champion rallied on the back nine with three birdies to climb up the leaderboard and into contention at the historic links.
Alker is 67th on the Nationwide Tour order of merit, with a best result a tie for fourth at the Chile Classic, and he looks to have saved his best performance for 2012 for the biggest stage in golf.
The Kiwi professional will be right in the thick of the hype in round three as he tees off alongside world No 1 Luke Donald as the local favourite tries to win his first major championship.
