Jones left stunned by Queenstown dream

By Tony Webeck

BRENDAN Jones arrived at the 10th hole of the Coronet Course at the Millbrook Resort on Friday needing par or better to make the cut.

Most likely.

At four-under par through 35 holes of the New Zealand Open in Queenstown and with the afternoon field only a handful of holes into their second round, Jones couldn’t really know exactly what he needed.

Two shots later he was on the green, 60 feet and two putts away from holding his place at four-under.

On his 48th birthday no less, Jones may have been the only person with an inkling of the significance of the five-footer he left himself to make par.

As good grinders do, he holed the putt, made the cut, shot 62 on Saturday and then hoisted the Brodie Breeze trophy on Sunday evening as the equally unlikely March snow glistened atop The Remarkables in the background.

For a man rarely short of a word, Jones was dumbstruck by what had transpired, winning an event he treasures so dearly yet was convinced he would never win “as long as my bum points to the ground”.

It was evident in his first start for 2023 – a tie for fifth behind David Micheluzzi at TPS Sydney – that Jones need not scratch too deep under the surface to unveil truly world class golf.

For 36 holes on a weekend in Queenstown, Jones went 14-under par with just one bogey to breathe new life into a career almost curtailed by Covid-19 yet rescued by legendary New South Wales PGA Professional Alex Mercer.

“I was thinking about throwing in the towel there for a little while but Alex Mercer is just the greatest human that I know,” Jones said in the wake of his three-stroke win worth close to $270,000.

“Without thinking that he’s doing much, he’s doing everything.

“Just spending a couple of hours with him changed my outlook on everything.

“All of a sudden, I was positive again and more relaxed. He just told me that I had nothing to prove to anybody and to just go out and play.”

As the Queensland pair of Shae Wools-Cobb and Chris Wood stumbled in the lead group behind, Jones pressed forward.

He made birdies at one and three in the final round to edge towards the top before his first bogey in 30 holes at the par-3 fifth. 

He stalled somewhat with six straight pars in the middle of his round before unleashing what he described as two of the best shots of his life.

First, was a 3-wood to set up birdie at the par-5 14th followed directly thereafter by an 8-iron to just a few inches at the par-3 15th.

From that point on, he was never headed.

“That second shot into 14 was probably the best 3-wood I’ve ever hit in my life and to then hit that 8-iron into the following hole was unexpected but, at the same time, I felt like I knew where the ball was going,” added Jones, a 15-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour.

“I don’t know what’s happened but I’ve won it and I played some pretty awesome golf, for an old guy anyway.

“It’s a dream come true.”

Jones’s NZ Open triumph was the third tournament in succession on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia to be decided in dramatic fashion.

Order of Merit leader Micheluzzi shot 10-under 61 in the final round – and nine-under for his final 10 holes – to take out TPS Sydney at Bonnie Doon Golf Club and his second win of the year.

Seven days later, fellow Victorian Brett Coletta also shot 61 on Sunday in winning TPS Hunter Valley at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort.

Upon signing for his course record round of nine-under, Coletta had a wait of three hours and 41 minutes to see whether his clubhouse mark of 11-under would be bettered.

Like Jones, he too made the cut on the number on the Friday, and had to literally drag himself up off the couch in the players’ lounge when New South Welshman Lincoln Tighe could only match his 72-hole tally.

It wasn’t until Tighe found trouble with his tee shot on the fourth playoff hole that Coletta had the breathing room to win with a two-putt par, thus securing his future on the PGA Tour of Australasia for at least the next two years.

MEANWHILE, Louis Dobbelaar’s wait for a maiden professional victory ended when the 21-year-old Queenslander out-duelled local hope Sung Jin Yeo to claim the New Zealand PGA Championship at Gulf Harbour Country Club.

From the same Grant Field stable as Cameron Smith, Dobbelaar finished third in consecutive weeks at the Australian PGA Championship and Queensland PGA Championship in early 2022 yet that first win remained elusive.

He played the first 52 holes bogey-free on his way to a three-stroke victory finishing with rounds of 66-67-66-69 for a 268 total – 20-under par.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Dobbelaar said. “I don’t think it will sink in for a little while. I’m just happy that Dad could see me win this one.”