Golf: Success worth the weight for Australian player

By BOB PEARCE in Christchurch

When Australian Euan Walters tees off in the New Zealand PGA tournament at Clearwater today, he will be 40kg lighter than he was a year ago and $200,000 heavier in the wallet than a week ago.

The 33-year-old Victorian won the rich Jacob's Creek tournament in Adelaide last weekend for the biggest cheque of his professional career.

Walters, who also played well in the New Zealand Open at The Grange last month, heads the Australasian order of merit with A$242,545 ($273,660) from five events. More importantly, both the Jacob's Creek and Clearwater tournaments are co-sanctioned with the American Nationwide tour, and he heads that list with US$145,587 ($210,560).

His dramatic weight loss was achieved for lifestyle rather than golf, but his big win has left him with a golfing decision that will also affect his lifestyle.

The top 20 players on the Nationwide order of merit at the end of the season earn cards on the full USPGA tour.

Walters and wife Viktoria must decide how he should pursue that dream with two children and a third due in four weeks. "I'll be going to the States, but just how we go about it is a major issue, whether my family will be going over or whether I'll be flying back and forwards.

"I can handle it, but whether my wife can handle it, I'm not sure. People who go over there get a bit of culture shock. I'm going to consult a lot of my friends who've played over there."

Walters, who narrowly missed the cut at Clearwater last year, was one player not disconcerted by the southerly wind that raised whitecaps on the extensive water hazards yesterday morning during the pro-am.

Learning the game in Melbourne, where the wind blows 60 per cent of the time, he is a low-ball hitter and as he quips: "I don't hit it that far so it doesn't go as far into the hazard."

There are 17 New Zealanders in the field, along with 66 Americans, 62 Australians and also players from Argentina, Japan, Korea, Canada, Ireland and Sweden.

Kiwi Michael Long, who won his USPGA card in 2001 through the Nationwide tour and almost regained it in the same way last season, has a special pleasure in playing the revived NZPGA event, which was the Clearwater Classic for its first two years.

When the 35-year-old tees off today, he will be chasing the only big national title he hasn't won.

After a string of junior and senior amateur successes, including membership of the New Zealand team that finished second in the Eisenhower Trophy at Christchurch in 1990, Long turned professional and won the New Zealand Open in 1996.

But the last PGA championship was played in 1987 at Mt Maunganui and that year, when Frank Nobilo won the title, Long was a student at Waikato University, who scored an invitation to play in the pro-am.

"I think it's fantastic to have the opportunity to play in the NZPGA," said Long yesterday. "Professional golf is so strong in New Zealand and there are so many great players out there, it's great to have our own championship."

David Smail, who lies sixth on the Australasian order of merit, is recovering from a virus, which affected his play over the past couple of weeks.