Golf: Tiger hunter will finally see his quarry in action

Owen Williams had to pinch himself to make sure he was not dreaming.

The Wellington businessman was playing golf at Paraparaumu Beach, appropriately in the last foursome before the course was closed for the New Zealand Open, which begins with practice rounds this morning and a transtasman challenge in the afternoon.

Williams was, with Allan McKay, Allan James and John Freer, a member of the PlusFore group that came up with the concept of bringing world No 1 Tiger Woods to Paraparaumu.

That was almost two years ago and now here he was walking a course dressed in all its finery for the arrival of the world's most recognisable sportsman.

"Looking at the stands, the hospitality suites and the great way the course has been prepared gave me a real buzz," Williams said.

"The whole thing is now building up and at last the big day is almost upon us."

Everything worked out in the end, even if not quite as Williams would have hoped.

The original group had to hand over control to those putting up the money to bring Woods to New Zealand, and while Williams knew that was inevitable, it still took him time to come to terms with what was happening.

After working on the project full-time for eight months and seeing it come to fruition, he was abruptly no longer involved.

"It was hard to suddenly be cut off from the day-to-day involvement, but it was a fact of life," Williams said.

"We had gone into it to raise the profile of golf in New Zealand and to get the world No 1 playing at Paraparaumu. There is no way we were going to argue about handing over control if those taking over could make it a reality.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed at the time, but my life has moved on and it has done me a favour in that I am involved in several other things, including working with Ronald McDonald House, which is really satisfying."

Williams ran the gamut of emotions during his time with PlusFore: excitement in the early stages; stress while trying to meet the deadlines of raising Woods' appearance money and needing the help of caddy Steve Williams to get three extensions; the elation of tying up the deal at 6.28 pm one day with two minutes to spare; and the disappointment of having to let go his hands-on involvement.

Watching Williams go through it all at close quarters was Maggie Kendall, his partner of 15 years.

"I don't really have the words to describe it," she said when asked how it affected her and Williams.

"It was interesting, to say the least. Eventually it became very stressful, but Owen coped with it well.

"He thrived early on when it was exciting and full-on. Then FR [Partners] took over and he had nothing.

"That was the hardest bit for me - having to bolster him and make him believe that it would never have happened but for him and the guys."

Williams admitted PlusFore were naive when it came to putting business deals together, and said there was perhaps even a little arrogance once they secured a letter of intent from Woods.

"Once we knew we had him we were going to people saying we had Tiger Woods and expecting them to come on board.

"We had people committing themselves, but nothing was being signed."

The backing of FR Partners changed that and now Williams has his fingers crossed for the venture.

"Our idea was to take the New Zealand Open to a higher level. It deserved to be ranked higher than 12th on the Australasian tour.

"Now it is fourth and I want to see it continue. John [Freer] and myself want to see it become a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour."

- NZPA

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