There will be no Danny Lee to boost the galleries at the New Zealand Open this weekend but there could be an intriguing battle between two new friends.
Former US PGA Tour regular Jeff Gove, of the United States, and journeyman Australian Jason Norris lead the $1.2 million New Zealand Open on 10-under-par 134 after two rounds.
New Zealander Steve Alker, winner of the New Zealand PGA at Clearwater a week ago, is one shot back in third, and there is a group of three tied for fourth a shot behind Alker.
There was a massive sense of disappointment at The Hills when it became clear Lee would miss the cut.
The US Amateur champion started the day 1-under but struggled with his putter and blew out to 4-over after a rough 77.
There was also no fairytale finish for the great Sir Bob Charles, who added a 79 to his first-round 73 to miss the cut by nine strokes. But Gove and Norris provided two great stories to ensure interest would still be high at the weekend.
Gove smoked around his first nine holes, the back nine, in a sizzling 29.
He had a run that included birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and birdie on the 14th to the 18th holes, and added more birdies on three and six to post a tournament-best 63.
But his efforts were almost overshadowed by the personal triumph of Norris.
In December 2007, the 36-year-old Victorian nearly lost his golf career - and his life - when he suffered horrific facial injuries in an accident.
He was riding a bicycle in a carpark after a party during the Australian PGA, at Coolum, and hit a concrete barrier. The bicycle fork snapped and Norris faceplanted the concrete.
His injuries were so severe he needed extensive surgery for what was essentially a facial reconstruction.
"It was a tough seven or eight months.
"It's still pretty hard to think about it, but I'm moving on," Norris said.
"I broke my jaw in 13 places, my nose was nearly pushed through my brain, and I had five plates put in."
Norris tied for seventh at the New Zealand PGA last week, picking up the biggest cheque of his career that has included only eight Nationwide events.
Norris and Gove played together in the first two rounds at the PGA and clearly enjoy each other's company.
Gove, who hit 17 of 18 greens, only missing on the fifth hole when he pitched to within 3m of the flag and the ball rolled right back to him, said it was the most fun he had had on the course in a long time.
"Our group got on a bit of a roll.
"I got a couple of good breaks but I played nicely," Gove said.
"We all managed to play pretty good. We just ran out of holes and had to stop."
Two of the first-round leaders went significantly backwards yesterday, with Todd Demsey (73) and Josh Teater (72) unable to capitalise on their Thursday 65s.
Canadian Ian Leggatt had arguably the round of the tournament so far, a 64 in the trying morning conditions. Leggatt only hit 50% of fairways but made just 29 putts through his 18 holes, with eight birdies and no bogies.
It represented a startling improvement from Leggatt after his 74 on Thursday.
"You don't see many 10-swings in that direction," Leggatt said.
"It was all about putting.
"I've been hitting it pretty good but my putting has just been awful, and today I putted really nice.
"It's a little surprising. You don't go out there expecting to shoot 64. It's just nice to finally make some putts."
American Alex Prugh, who was tied with Demsey and Teater for the lead after the opening round, kept in touch with the new leaders with an uneven 71 to be at 8-under.
Prugh was frustrated because he finished strongly on Thursday and felt he was building momentum.
"My first round was basically just the last six holes. I birdied five of them," Prugh said.
"I birdied my first hole today and thought I was away. Unfortunately I made a bogey straight away and kind of got in a rut here and there."
Leading players to miss cut (-1) included Lee, Sir Bob Charles, fellow New Zealanders Gareth Paddison, Mark Purser and Phil Tataurangi, and Australians Andre Stolz, Paul Sheehan, Peter Fowler, Peter O'Malley, Michael Sim and Kurt Barnes.
All four New Zealand amateurs missed the cut but Thomas Spearman-Burn (3-over) won the Bledisloe Cup for leading amateur. Terry Price (elbow), John Riegger (back) and Peter Wilson (shoulder) all withdrew with injuries.
The official crowd was 5120 at The Hills yesterday and the organisers will hope the absence of Lee and Charles does not affect attendance today and tomorrow.
