Golf: Parry is forever grateful to NZ

Craig Parry of Australia plays a shot. Photo / Getty Images

Australian golfer Craig Parry says he owes a lot to the New Zealand Open - about A$3 million in fact.

The 45-year-old won the 2002 New Zealand Open when the tournament was played at Paraparaumu and the field featured Tiger Woods.

Parry's victory saw him springboard to the World Golf Championship title in the same year, netting him a cool US$1m at a time when the Australian dollar was at 51c to the Greenback.

The World crown guaranteed him a PGA Tour card for a few more years and Parry also claimed the Ford Championship in Doral in 2004, which was another big payday.

Parry spoke fondly of that 2002 victory on the eve of this year's Open, which tees off at Clearwater in Christchurch tomorrow.

"Obviously it changed my life," he said. "[With] Tiger being in the field, anyone who won that event was going to get in to the World Golf Championship event and I happened to win the World Golf Championship and that kept me on the tour for another few years."

With the Seniors Tour not far away for Parry - players are eligible from 50 - he has toned down his overseas travel in recent times to focus on the Australasia PGA Tour.

He missed three months this year with skin cancer but Parry, who has won 23 tournaments in his career, said he was keen to perform this week.

"I think if you get into double figures under par at the end of the week, especially with this breeze flying around, that's going to be enough. There's a lot more roll-off areas around the greens this week and it's going to roll off the green onto the downslope.

"That's on quite a few holes on the back nine that I played yesterday. It's a big change to what we had two years ago. The greens are rolling pure and you're going to have to play good golf. You know what's there, you hit good shots and you'll get rewarded.''

Fellow Australia Peter O'Malley has been a big supporter of New Zealand golf and also returned to play this week. O'Malley won in 1995 and is the only player to win the New Zealand Amateur, New Zealand Open and New Zealand PGA titles.

"Another reason we are here is for Christchurch," O'Malley said. "Craig and I went up to Towoomba to play and there was a big emphasis after the floods up there. And it's the same thing here after the earthquakes. We want to see that this event helps Christchurch get back going.

"Prize money is not an issue for us. We just want to come here and play in a national open that we have both won before and we both want to win again."

Picking a winner this week is the equivalent of drawing names from a hat with little-known Australians in the mix as well as former US Open champion Michael Campbell.

Mahal Pearce was the last Kiwi to hold the trophy, when he claimed the title at Middlemore in 2003, while the names of amateurs Ben Campbell and Ryan Fox are rated as genuine chances.

Australian Brad Kennedy is the highest-ranked player in the 144-strong field with a world ranking of 228. David Smail (475), Michael Hendry (565) and Josh Geary (567) are the highest-ranked Kiwis.