KEY POINTS:
A strong southerly wind caused carnage among the leading players in the final round of the $150,000 New Zealand Women's Open golf championship in Christchurch yesterday.
What was shaping as a tight finish with the top seven players separated by no more than four shots suddenly turned into
a one-horse race as only Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera withstood the buffeting winds and accompanying sharp drop in temperature.
When the wind swept the Clearwater Resort course, the final threesome was playing the eighth hole and overnight leader, Sarah Oh, of Australia, still held a one-shot advantage over Nocera with compatriot and world No 26 Katherine Hull three off the lead.
But the dramatic swing in the weather completely changed the complexion of the championship.
At the end of the 54 holes, Nocera, after a three-under-par 69, stood alone at eight-under 208, six shots clear of a group of four.
Hull was in that quartet at two-under 214 along with fellow Australians Nikki Garrett and Sarah Kemp, and Korean professional Bobea Park, who spent most of her amateur career in Auckland.
The biggest casualty of the weather was 20-year-old Oh, who had been composed and confident for 45 holes then lost the plot when she lost the lead to Nocera for the first time after the Frenchwoman had her fifth birdie on the 10th.
Oh was par for the day through 11 holes before bogeying the 12th. That preceded three successive double bogeys and a bogey at 17, which resulted in a back nine of eight-over 44 and a round of eight-over 80, as she slipped to a share of sixth place.
Nocera was perhaps the only player who welcomed the wind.
"I like the wind, I enjoy it blowing because it pushes me to play even better," she said.
"Sometimes I play too easy and make stupid mistakes and it (wind) makes me concentrate."
Nocera said she had played really well, especially on the greens, to be five-under through 11 holes.
"When the wind came I tried hard not to make mistakes. I knew I was going to make bogeys and so was everybody else. It didn't really matter as long as I didn't make more than bogeys."
Nocera said she was conscious not to ground the club behind the ball on the greens and was forced at times to remove her visor and glasses before putting.
Auckland 14-year-old Cecilia Cho had the honour of not only being the leading amateur but also the leading New Zealander.
She was one-under after 10 holes and despite a faltering finish, which included three double bogeys, she managed a 79 to be tied for 14th on 221, one shot ahead of Wellington professional Sarah Nicholson and Northland amateur Caroline Bon.
Close to 5400 paying spectators attended the three-day championship, which pleased promoter Bob Tuohy, who has the rights along with New Zealand Golf to run the tournament for another two years.
- NZPA
