Golf: Final-round scorcher ends Webster's rollercoaster ride

Steve Webster chuckles that he might retire on a high after his record round yesterday. Picture / Reuters

For suspense, jaunty Englishman Steve Webster provided a final-round masterpiece as he scorched around Gulf Harbour in a course record 62 shots yesterday.

It was a round which started with reduced conviction for the 30-year-old Webster after he had stumbled to an 80 in the third round of the New Zealand Open.

That slip meant Webster was left to hit off by himself as the 81st player in the field before he accepted the offer of first reserve professional and friend Simon Hurd for some playing company on the final day.

Webster said that meant he did not rush his game, although by the time he dropped a curling 7.5m putt on the 18th for the course record, he had stopped the clock at just three hours for his round.

Many of the gallery arriving mid-morning were able to scuttle to the final vantage point to see Webster sink his 10th and record birdie and only the 24th putt in his round to overtake the previous mark of 63 strokes held by three others.

Webster was made to work extremely hard for his record, enduring a five-hole stretch of pars until his final-hole triumph.

After his wretched third round, Webster changed tactics for his final tilt at Gulf Harbour.

He went straight from his car to the first tee, without visiting the practice range or even trying the putting green, and promptly hit his drive into trouble. He saved par and then began his course assault.

The 10-year-tour pro had nine birdies in the next 11 holes and was asked if he would adopt the same casual routine for his next tournament.

"What do you do?" Webster asked.

"If you don't try you think you are not giving yourself a chance and if you try too hard it doesn't work out, so I don't know what to think. I might retire," he chuckled, "retire on a high."

Initially Webster and Hurd started playing a game of Skins with $15 for birdies but Webster charitably abandoned that scheme as his mate rapidly headed into debt.

As an alternate motivation method, Webster also had a $24 bet at odds of 11 to one with his caddy that he would shoot a final round good enough for some payment at Gulf Harbour.

"I think we will forget about that money too," said a delighted Webster.

After 12 holes, Webster had equalled the course record before the barrage stalled as he hit the difficult stretch on the back nine. He saved par from wide in the silage on the 17th before hitting the centre of the last green and making the putt for a spectacular finish.

Webster knew he had made it, even with his ball still three feet short of the target, as he saluted his best tournament score since he turned pro.

"There is a very fine line between trying too hard and trying too little," he said of the extraordinary 18-shot swing he had in his weekend rounds.

"It is a crazy game," he added.

He liked the course set-up but suggested the fairways were a little generous and some tees could be altered to reduce the par to 70 for the professionals.

Whatever happened, Webster promised he would be a NZ Open starter next season.

Record run

* 63 Scott Verplank (US) 1998
* 63 Patrik Sjoland (Sweden) 1998
* 63 Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 2005
* 63 Richard Green (Australia ) 2005
* 63 Miles Tunnicliff (England) 2005
* 62 Steve Webster 2005