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 Purser claims debut victory in Carrus Tauranga Open Sunday 29th April, 2007 Hamilton golfer Mark Purser has grabbed his first victory as a professional to claim the Carrus Tauranga Open today. He came from seven shots back overnight to fire a brilliant eight-under par 63 in the final round to edge overnight leader Leighton James by one shot at Tauranga Golf Club. The $40,000 tournament is run under the umbrella of Golf Tour New Zealand (GTNZ), 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. Purser reduced the deficit to two shots after 11 holes, finally getting within one shot when James bogeyed the 16th. The Waikato player slotted a 3m putt for a brilliant eagle on the par-5 17th to claim the lead for the first time with the birdie putt by James on the final hole just short in his attempt to force a playoff. "It's a great feeling to win any tournament especially my first four-round event as a professional," Purser said. "I made hard work of it today although I made some great putts. "I did not start very well but just had to be patient. That came with my 61 in the second round and I played really well today. I feel for Leighton. He played well all week." Purser has won once as an amateur at the Waikato Strokeplay and also won the Waitemata Pro-Am. "This is my first four round event since December. It's great to be playing four round events and gives me a real boost." Purser finished with a four-round total of 262, 21-under par and one shot behind last year's winning total by Josh Geary. James had to settle for second place one shot behind after his final round even-par 71 that included four birdies and four dropped shots. Tauranga club player Kevin Smith, runner-up last year, finished third on 16-under par, with a double bogey on the 15th proving pivotal in his chances. Three professionals shared fourth place in Hamish Robertson (Taihape), Sydney-based Martin Pettigrew and Josh Carmichael (North Harbour) Waikato professional Brad Shilton became the third player this week to fire a 10-under par 61, along with Purser on the second round and Smith on day three. Shilton turned at five-under and fired five more birdies on the way home in a brilliant display that saw him jump 25 spots to finish in a share of seventh place on 14-under with North Island champion Nick Gillespie (Hastings) New Zealand representatives James Gill, the national strokeplay champion from Hamilton and Troy Ropiha (New Plymouth) showed they are in good shape ahead of next month's Four Nations event to share ninth place on 13-under par. Canterbury professional Tony Christie enjoyed his best form of the week with a six-under 65 to move to a share of 11th place on 12-under along with fellow professional Grant Moorhead (New Plymouth), Rotorua teenager Danny Lee, Doug Millington and Auckland's Travis O'Connell who finished with a superb eight-under 63. Lee heads to Korea tomorrow where he will compete in the Korean PGA Tour event. Best female was national junior representative Zoe-Beth Brake from Whakatane who finished 34th place overall on four-under par. Final scores: Tauranga Leaderboard For further information: |
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