Golf: Promoter's dream drawcard at The Hills

One is a mere lad quick to outgrow his trainer wheels, the other a sprightly septuagenarian in no need of a walking frame.

Between them, Danny Lee and Sir Bob Charles have ensured that the marketing budget for the New Zealand Open starting at The Hills today can be put aside for next year's edition of the golf championship.

For this week alone, the teenage amateur sensation and the famous pensioner have guaranteed that those charged with promoting the tournament have barely had to lift a finger.

Lee, 18, and already earmarked for greatness, and the World Golf Hall of Fame inductee have dominated talk ahead of the US$600,000 ($1.2 million) Nationwide Tour and Australasian Tour co-sanctioned event on the outskirts of Arrowtown.

Despite a 156-strong field containing quality players from the secondary circuit in the United States, 10 of whom have won PGA Tour titles, all the chatter has centred on the prospects of Lee and Charles.

Both have compelling storylines, with Lee aiming to become the first amateur winner of the championship since Australian Harry Berwick in 1956 and only the second 18-year-old to do so, after Charles in 1954.

For his part, Charles, who will blow out 73 candles on his birthday cake on Saturday, has it in him to upstage his much younger rivals, as proven in the same tournament on the same course 16 months ago when he became the oldest player in history to make the second-round cut in a regular tour event.

The 1963 British Open champion went on to finish a scarcely believable 23rd equal on that occasion, bettering or equalling his age in three of the four rounds as he romanced the galleries with a performance which seduced even the sceptics. It is unrealistic to expect Charles to repeat that effort this week.

His preparation has been severely limited although he did lug his carry bag for the entire 18 holes at Clearwater in Christchurch last week in the pro-am immediately before the New Zealand PGA Championship.

Charles' buildup this time around has been compromised by his desire to help out with the harvesting chores on his Canterbury farm.

Lee has had no such distractions. The reigning US Amateur champion plans to turn professional after the Masters in the US next month, and has been busy logging up the air miles as he gathers as much experience as he can before making the switch.

He has hardly wasted his time either, making six cuts in eight appearances in pro events since last August, winning the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth last month and performing strongly to finish seventh equal at the PGA Championship on Sunday as his world ranking has skyrocketed to 144th.

Lee certainly has the bottle to do something extraordinary this week and he has said he wants a top-five finish at The Hills.

Understandably, Charles' expectations are not quite so high, and his hopes have not been helped by bitingly cold weather which saw temperatures plummet into single figures yesterday. The forecast is for improved conditions over the next four days, but that prediction has not boosted Charles' prospects.

He said he had no goals to attain this week.

"I have never set a goal in my life. I have just come down here to play the game I love. It would be nice if I could have maybe one score at least around my age," he said, before adding that his hands were white for a good reason.

NZ OPEN
* First staged in 1907.
* Venue: The Hills Golf Club, Arrowtown.
* Par 72. 6610m.
* Purse: US$600,000.
* First place: US$108,000.
* Second: US$61,200.
* Third: US$40,500.
* Status: co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour in the United States and the Australasian PGA Tour.
* 2007 champion: Richard Finch (England).
* Last to defend title: Corey Pavin (US) 1984-85.

Most titles:
* 9 - Peter Thomson (Aust) 1950, 51, 53, 55, 59-61, 65, 71
* 7 - Kel Nagle (Aust) 1957, 58, 62, 64, 67-69
* 6 - Andy Shaw (NZ) 1929-32, 34, 36
* 5 - Ted Douglas (NZ) 1913, 14, 19, 21, 33
* 4 - Bob Charles (NZ) 1954, 66, 70, 73

- NZPA