Golf: Wilkinson treats NZ Open as warm-up

For Tim Wilkinson, the New Zealand Open is essentially a warm-up event for the rest of the golfing year.

It will be Wilkinson's first 72-hole tournament of the summer when play starts tomorrow at the Gulf Harbour Country Club at Whangaparaoa in Auckland.

Many of those in the open, co-sanctioned with the European PGA Tour, will be playing their third or fourth event.

Wilkinson's coach Andre White said the New Zealand public should not expect too much from the 26-year-old golfer despite him gaining a 2005 card for the secondary US Nationwide Tour in December.

"He is being touted as one of the next big things, but this is his first big tournament of the year," White said.

"This tournament is not a test of whether he's a good player or not."

White believed players were judged on how they performed at home, but overlooked the fact that Wilkinson has 30 tournaments on the American Nationwide Tour to come.

Two weeks ago Wilkinson won the Eketahuna-Masterton pro-am and shot 63 at Eketahuna, and White was satisfied his pupil's technical game was at it's best.

"He couldn't go up there feeling any better about how's he's swinging it. He was not swinging as well two weeks ago. The big difference with Tim now is he is a lot more relaxed."

Wilkinson heads to the Nationwide events at Adelaide and Clearwater, Christchurch after the New Zealand Open.

"I just want to play as well as I can," Wilikinson said. "I don't have any position goals."

With a stronger field this year, there are more world ranking points at stake.

He said his win in the pro-am got him used to scoring and stringing birdies together again.

"Gulf Harbour will be harder and faster, but I know the course pretty well."

Wilkinson has won a pro-am event there and because of its length with plenty of tee positions, he'll be able to use his driver on much of the course.

He is one of the few invited New Zealand players.

"It is the biggest tournament in New Zealand now and that's definitely good coming from a New Zealand perspective because it is recognised a bit more."

Wilkinson has missed the cut in his last two opens, at Middlemore in 2003 and at The Grange in Auckland last year. In 2002 at Paraparaumu Beach, he tied for 17th as an amateur and made the cut in the two previous opens.

- NZPA