Golf: Green's win good omen for NZ Open

Richard Green, winner of the Australian Masters this week, reckons he will have a head start on many of his rivals as he prepares for February's New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour.

Victorian Green and his fellow in-form Australian lefthanders, West Australians Nick O'Hern and Greg Chalmers, along with popular past champion Peter O'Malley were confirmed last night in the first wave of top-name entries for the Holden-sponsored Open.

In 1998, Green teamed with O'Malley for the World Cup of Golf at Gulf Harbour.

"I'm really looking forward to coming back," Green said last night. "I enjoyed the course and I'm sure Peter and I have got some inside knowledge from 1998."

With prizemoney bumped up to NZ$1.5 million, and with the tournament co-sanctioned with the European Tour, there are hopes of good quality Europeans lining up on February 10.

There is a chance of one or two of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team members being in the field, but the likelihood of a five-star headline act like Colin Montgomerie turning up is remote.

However, organisers have their fingers crossed that more classy names will be revealed in the next few days.

The 33-year-old Green beat Chalmers and fellow Australian David McKenzie at the first hole of a three-way playoff to win the Masters at Huntingdale, Victoria, on Sunday to clinch the Australian Order of Merit.

And that's opened a variety of doors for the 12-year professional, including a start in the US Open next year.

He is playing a string of European Tour events in the early part of the year to clear some room for an American expedition midway through the year.

Green bagged three ties for second place on the European Tour this year, at the French and European Opens - in back-to-back events in June-July - and the KLM Open in the Netherlands. Green, who finished 17th on the European Order of Merit earning €1.1 million, ended the year with five top 10 placings in his last 12 tournaments and his win at Huntingdale bumped him up to 63rd on the world rankings.

O'Hern's year has been even more impressive. The world No 46 has just finished his most successful year in Europe, ending 12th on the Order of Merit. The breakthrough win he was hoping for did not materialise, but he had 10 top 10 finishes and more than €2.5 million in earnings.

Chalmers, a former Australian Open and Players Championship winner, pocketed about US$400,000 on the US PGA Tour.

He had three top 20 finishes, the best a tie for fourth at the John Deere Classic in July, but finished 156th on the money list and missed out on automatically retaining his Tour card.

Sydneysider O'Malley, who won the Open in 1995 at The Grange, finished 35th on the European Tour this year, with four top 10 finishes.

The 39-year-old is a regular visitor to New Zealand and will again figure among the more fancied contenders.

"This is an example of a level of golfer who has not played regularly in New Zealand in the past three or four years," recently retired leading professional Greg Turner said of yesterday's signings. Turner is working with tournament officials in attracting players to the Open.

"I've had a favourable reaction from a number of Australian players and would expect more leading players to commit to New Zealand in the coming weeks."

New Zealand Open

Venue: Gulf Harbour

Dates: February 10-13

Prizemoney: NZ$1.5 million

Defending champion: Terry Price (Australia)