Who would want to be a past New Zealand Open champion?
Four of them - Jordan Zunic (2015), Dimitrios Papadatos (2014), Jake Higginbottom (2012) and Brad Kennedy (2011) - will leave Arrowtown early after missing the cut in this year's tournament.
With the top 60 plus ties making the cut for the final two rounds at the Hills starting today, Kennedy was the only one of the four Australians to come close. Just last week he had won the New Zealand PGA Championship in Auckland, but he finished 1-over-par for a share of 62nd.
The Queensland pro carded a 1-under-par 70 at Millbrook yesterday, but was ultimately let down by a sluggish 2-over-par 74 at The Hills on Thursday. However, he came a lot closer than his fellow countrymen.
Zunic, who came out of nowhere to win it all with a brilliant birdie on the final hole a year ago, finished tied for 127th.
He finished 9-over-par after shooting an ugly 78 at the par-71 Millbrook course yesterday.
His forgettable round started with a bogey on the 10th, before he dropped three more shots on the 11th (double bogey) and 12th (bogey). After scoring a par on the 13th, he dropped two more shots on the 14th with another double bogey to all but end his hopes.
The 25-year-old managed to bury three birdies the rest of the way around, but they were cancelled out by four more bogeys. Higginbottom, who in 2012 became the first amateur to win the Open in more than half a century, finished tied for 100th at 5-over-par.
After carding a 6-over-par 78 at The Hills on Thursday, he followed it up with a 1-under-par 70 at Millbrook yesterday.
Papadatos, who shot a 5-over-par 77 at The Hills on day one, also fired a 1-under-par 70 at Millbrook.
But his rough first round condemned him to a share of 94th.
