Golf: Bathtime scare before Smail's NZ Open clean-up

By DAVID LEGGAT

David Smail's formative golf years were often spent in the shadow of his Hamilton Boys' High School team-mate Steve Alker. Yesterday, at The Grange, Smail had his day on centre stage, clinching the New Zealand Open by two strokes.

Smail did it in the best fashion, leading from the front, keeping his head as the challengers came and went to finish the TelstraSaturn-sponsored Open with a seven-under score of 273, after an even-par final round. Ironically, that was his poorest round in a tournament to cherish.

For Smail, 30, who plies his trade primarily on the Japanese and Australasian circuits, it was his maiden professional Tour victory in eight years as a professional. He collected $94,735 for his efforts, which took to five the number of successive Opens won by a New Zealander.

But the win was not achieved without a brief moment of panic on Saturday night.

When he sank the final putt, two-year-old son Charlie happily trotted on to the 18th green into Dad's arms. Yet it was Charlie who had given Smail a scare he did not need.

When lifting his son out of the bath, Smail had felt a tweak in his back. He admitted he was concerned, but after warming up yesterday morning, believed it would not stop him pushing for the greatest triumph of his career.

"I was struggling to get through the ball. I was having to use my arms," he said.

And how was it after the prizegiving? "Can't feel it at all," he beamed.

Smail began the day with a three-shot cushion, and after dropping a shot at the par-four fifth, eagled the next hole, and effectively made sure of the win when he went to nine under by birdying the par-five 12th.

That hole had been good to Smail throughout the tournament, yielding three birdies and, on the opening day, an eagle three.

Smail and Alker are old mates, part of the world collegiate championship title-winning team at Sunningdale, England, in 1988. But in those days it was Alker, the Canadian Tour Order of Merit champion, who tended to hog the limelight.

Yesterday, he strove to make life hard for his old schoolmate. He birdied the first and sixth, and went to seven under at the 10th, which put him one shot off the joint leadership.

Still Smail clung on, and when Alker dropped shots at 17 and 18, leaving Smail a whopping four-shot buffer as he stepped on to the 18th tee - although he thought his margin was just two - even the untidy double-bogey finish could not ruin his day.

"This is very special. There were a lot of familiar faces out there. It was really nice," said Smail, whose wife is former professional Sheree Higgens.

He had not set himself a score target yesterday - "I know how tough and tricky this course can be" - and leading into the final round was a new experience.

The big difference between his earlier winning chances and yesterday were the nerves. Yesterday, he did not have any, and it showed.

Alker, Michael Campbell, who shot a second successive 66 to push hard, Australian Nathan Gatehouse, with a two-under 68, and Briton Roger Chapman all finished at 275.

There was just the briefest hope that the golfing knight, Sir Bob Charles, would roll back the years and bid for a fifth Open title. Three birdies on the front nine took him to four under, but a double bogey at 17 left him in a share of 15th on 279.

As he walked down the 18th fairway, the leaderboard, which shows the surnames of those playing the final hole, registered the names Druce (Australian Kenny) and, simply, "Sir Bob."

The warm ovation as he reached the 18th green was testimony to his status. His score illustrated that, at 64, he still has the game to go with it.