Golf: Brad's heavenly round

By BOB PEARCE

Auckland amateur Brad Heaven kept his cool on a day of hot scoring to match the best Australia could offer in the first round of the New Zealand Open at The Grange.

The 23-year-old, who is in his final year at the University of Toledo in Ohio, shot a six-under 64 to share the lead in the Holden-sponsored event with Australians Peter O'Malley, Ben Bunny and Wade Ormsby.

Heaven won the Bledisloe Cup at Paraparaumu as top amateur in the Open as a small 16-year-old from Remuera. Now one of the tallest players in the field, he has been second-placed amateur for the past two years.

He came to The Grange with victory in his last tournament in the States, but was short of match practice in snowbound Ohio.

"I'm heading back on Monday. I'm already missing classes and emailing my teachers," he said. "I've got some good mates signing me in."

He started with a birdie on his first hole and didn't drop a shot, playing methodically round the course, which rewards accuracy over length.

"I didn't hole too many bombs," he said. "I just played steady and kept the ball in play."

Earlier in the day the Australian contingent at the top of the leaderboard brought some varied experiences to the tournament.

O'Malley was playing his first competitive round for three weeks; Bunny was playing his first round as a professional; Ormsby was only playing because he could not get a start in South Africa.

The phlegmatic O'Malley, winner on the same course in 1995, had nine birdies and three bogeys in his round, and demonstrated his mastery of the short irons, which won him the Clearwater Classic in Christchurch a couple of years ago.

On fairways that were comparatively soft he used his driver from the tee eight times, missed only one fairway and peppered the pin so closely with his approach shots that his longest birdie putt was from four metres.

The 39-year-old from New South Wales has played well fresh before. He arrived in Europe at the start of last season and shot 64 in his first round in Italy. And he has no qualms at leading all the way.

"Of my six wins, four times I've led from the start. One of those was here at The Grange in 1995, when I had 65 in the first round."

The 25-year-old Bunny (yes, they call him Bugs) gained his professional tour card at the recent qualifying tournament, where he finished 16th. He was a late developer in his amateur career, but did shoot a low of 62 in a qualifier for the US amateur championships.

His round yesterday went from satisfactory to sensational after he had averted a crisis by sinking an eight-metre putt on the difficult 13th to save his par and stay at three under.

He hit a wedge to birdie the 16th, boomed a drive out 300 metres and sank a five-metre putt to birdie the 17th, and picked up another shot on the last.

Ormsby has just qualified to play on the European Tour, but his ranking was too low to earn a start in South Africa. He got a late start here, and with three classy sand saves, kept alive his 64.

One shot out of the lead are another New Zealand amateur, Chris Johns, who won the Bledisloe Cup last year at Middlemore, and Australian professionals Matthew Millar and Ricky Schmidt.

Young New Zealander Eddie Lee finished four under with a big group of Aussies.

Defending champion Mahal Pearce, who admitted to being almost paralysed with nerves on his first tee, had the best possible start with an eagle on that hole, playing the perfect wedge for his second on the par-four.

He kept the score going and finished at three under, along with former champion David Smail and Stu Thompson.