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 Auckland amateur moves clear at Carrus Tauranga Open Saturday 28th April, 2007 White-hot amateur Leighton James will take a commanding five shot lead into the final round of the $40,000 of the rain-delayed Carrus Tauranga Open today. The New Zealand representative produced another stunning display with an eight-under par 63 at Tauranga Golf Club. He is on an impressive 20-under par for 54 holes, already matching Josh Geary?s four-round winning total from last year, with players taking full advantage of the receptive greens and calm conditions following morning rain. Play was delayed three hours after heavy overnight rain in the Golf Tour New Zealand (GTNZ), the tour established by Greg Turner to provide opportunities for young New Zealand professionals and to raise the bar for the leading amateurs, both men and women. James (The Grange) has a five shot lead over local Tauranga player Kevin Smith, who matched the tournament low-score with a remarkable 10-under 61. He is two shots clear of leading professional, Hamilton's Mark Purser on 13-under with a further two shots back to Auckland professional Josh Carmichael in fourth place. Six players share fifth place in the chase for the minors tomorrow. They consist of overnight co-leader Hamish Robertson, New Zealand strokeplay champion James Gill (Hamilton), North Island champion Nick Gillespie (Hastings), former international Richard Wright (Matamata), local Tauranga club player Jared Pender and Sydney-based professional Martin Pettigrew all on 10-under. New Zealand amateur champion Danny Lee (Rotorua) is perched one shot behind in a share of 11th place with outstanding Taranaki professional Grant Moorhead. The leading female is New Zealand junior international Zoe-Beth Brake who moved into the top 30 overall on five-under after her second successive three-under 68. James, who shared the overnight lead on 12-under, made an astonishing start, going out in a seven-under 28 for the opening nine holes. The 22-year-old missed three birdies with back-to-back eagles on the front nine, mixing two more birdies with one dropped shot coming home. "It was a great start," James said. "Actually I missed some opportunities on the back nine and fluffed a couple. "It's good to have a buffer going into the final round and hope I can continue the solid effort. Conditions are still so good that anyone could shoot really low tomorrow." Smith, who shot 60 in a recent business house competition at Tauranga, was hoping to go one better today, mixing eight birdies and an eagle in his remarkable display. He lipped out with an eagle putt on the 17th and a birdie on the 18th for what would have been a new course record. "They were both good putts,? Smith said. ?After shooting 60 two weeks ago I really wanted to go under it." The wet weather proved a benefit for Smith who had been wayward off the tee in his first two rounds. "The damp fairways slowed things and meant I was in good shape and able to attack the greens. Yesterday I had six bogies so the key was being in play from the tee. "My form in final rounds is not so good in the past. I don?t know how tomorrow will go but I'd like to think I can play well." Wright produced his best round for several months, with a nine-under par 62 as the birdie blitz continued. He bagged five birdies on each nine in a superb display, mixed with a solitary dropped shot at the 5th. Full scores: Tauranga Leaderboard For further information: |
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