The 51-year-old New Zealander now calls Arizona home but his performance in the opening round of the New Zealand Open indicated he retains a real fondness for Arrowtown.
Alker, fresh off his heroics on the Champions Tour, briefly shared the lead of the $1.7 million tournament after firing a near-flawless 6-under-par 65 on the Remarkables course.
He and others around him were gazumped later in the day by under-the-radar Australian Chris Wood, who smashed the course record for the Remarkables 18 with a stunning 10-under- par 61 that featured eight birdies and an eagle.
Wood holds a four-shot lead from a group containing New Zealanders Alker and Kit Bittle, Japanese golfers Yosuke Asaji and Tomoyo Ikemura, Tom Power Horan (Australia) and Gunn Charoenkul (Thailand).
Alker said he felt ‘‘pretty good’’ after completing his morning round in perfect conditions.
‘‘I had a nice little start with two birdies and kind of settled down and got into a bit of a groove. It felt like I just left a little bit out there, because there wasn’t much wind today, so a little bit disappointing, but I kept my nose clean most of the day. The course is in great shape, and the greens are just getting better and better.’’
Alker lamented a three-putt on his sixth hole, the 15th, when his birdie attempt never looked like catching the hole, and his return effort also slipped wide.
He nearly finished with an eagle when he almost holed out from 110 yards on the ninth, his last hole.
‘‘I had a lot of nice iron shots today, and I putted well.’’
Tournament organisers paired Alker with DP World Tour golfer Daniel Hillier, and the duo appeared to buoy each other during their round. Alker was ‘‘very impressed’’ with the youngster.
‘‘I hadn’t met Dan properly until today. He’s got a lot of game. Length, nice move at the ball, and he plays with a lot of freedom. I love the way he swings it.’’
For his part, Hillier relished playing alongside his more seasoned compatriot in front of by far the biggest gallery of the tournament.
‘‘It was a lot of fun, playing with Steven, and having a bit of a crowd behind us,’’ Hillier said.
‘‘Steven was rock solid. It was pretty cool to go toe to toe with him for most of the day.’’
Hillier finished with a 4-under 67 in a round that included seven birdies and three bogies.
‘‘That was probably the best I’ve hit it in a long time, really, and I gave myself a lot of chances. I felt I hit it too good to shoot 4-under but that’s golf, and hopefully I can come out and hole
a few more putts.
‘‘I had a couple of three-putts, which is less than ideal, and a few more chances inside 10-15 feet that just slid by.’’
Hillier nearly delivered one of the shots of the day when his approach on the par-4 17th pulled up just short of the hole. He said the greens were perfect, and he could see some low scoring.
Beside him was the familiar long-striding figure of uber-caddy Steve Williams, and Hillier made the most of his time with the man who advised Tiger Woods for so long.
‘‘He’s been awesome. He’s pretty quick out of the blocks. I’m hitting my tee shot and he’s already 30m-40m ahead of me.
‘‘So by the time I get to the ball, he’s got the number sorted, he’s got the wind and what I need to hit. It makes my job a lot easier, for sure.’’
Leader Wood, a Queensland native, missed the cut in his only previous appearance at the New Zealand Open, in 2019.
The 2021 Victorian PGA champion simply wanted to keep things simple.
‘‘Just making no mistakes,’’ Wood said.
‘‘The putter got hot pretty early and I just sort of rode the momentum as the round went on.’’
Wood said it was ‘‘very special’’ to fire his lowest round in a tournament, capped by a wonderful 35-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 18th.
He chipped in for eagle on 10, but thought his best shot of the round might have been 5-iron into the par-3 13th hole.
He acknowledged he had no experience leading a tournament of this magnitude after the first round but hoped he could keep playing well to stay in the hunt at the weekend.
Unheralded New Zealand professional Bittle missed a birdie putt from about a foot on the par-3 18th that would have given him the outright clubhouse lead at 7-under.
Australian golfer Lawry Flynn appeared to be on track for something special as well before he made triple bogey on his final hole and dropped to 5-under.
Two of the shots of the day were former champion Matthew Griffin making albatross on his first hole, the par-5 494m first on the Remarkables course, and Asaji holing out from about 90m at the 17th.
Among the meritorious performers of the day were Kiwi amateurs Sam Jones, Jayden Ford and Kazuma Kobori, all of whom carded 5-under.
Scoring was easier on the Remarkables course, so the leaderboard could change drastically when golfers switch sides tomorrow.
The top 60 plus ties make the cut for the weekend.
