Kiwis Dan Hillier and Nick Voke are in with as good a shot as anyone at the New Zealand Open at Millbrook, which tees off today.
"It’s every professional golfer’s dream to win their national open, myself included," Hillier said.
"I feel like I’ve got the game to do it now.
"I don’t want to say my time will come, because you never know, but I feel like I’ve got a pretty good chance."
Voke echoed Hillier’s comments, saying the Open was the tournament every Kiwi golfer was glued to growing up, and he hoped to follow in the footsteps of Matt Hendry, the last Kiwi to win the Open in 2017.
"We know the history, we know the winners, and I mean, to be part of that and put our name on the trophy would be pretty wicked," Voke said.
It is always a big commitment to trek back home for the tournament, but it is one that neither player would miss.
"I absolutely love coming back here," Hillier said.
"I think I speak for everyone by saying this is one of the best weeks of the year that we have.
"I’ve been lucky enough to play half decent a couple of times and feel that excitement down the stretch.
"Like everyone else, [I’m] looking to be up there again and make the most of it."
And if either Hillier or Voke wins the tournament, what kind of celebration can the Kiwi fans expect?
"I think we’ll pop a manu on that lake over there," Voke joked.
But if it is not to be for either of them, there is one other Kiwi they would love to see up the top.
"Ben Campbell, right?" Voke said.
"He has such a stellar record here, on the LIV tour now, had great success the last 18 months. He’ll be the guy."
Voke is in good shape, coming off a stellar win at the Webex Player Series Sydney tournament last week.
He joked he had peaked too early — and is still sifting through the nearly 500 congratulatory messages — but it gave him confidence heading into today.
"You see some putts go in and all of a sudden the hole gets bigger.
"We’ve all felt it and the hole felt pretty big last week.
"Hopefully it remains the same size this week."
Voke also enjoyed watching his great mate Hillier starting the year off well.
Hillier finished runner-up at the DP World Tour’s stop in Dubai in January, a nice boost after a frustrating end to last season.
He contributed part of his success to returning home over the Christmas break, getting his mindset right and spending quality time with family and friends.
"I felt really excited to get back into it the start of this year and it’s pretty cool I’ve been able to start off with a hiss and a roar and I’m not playing catch-up like I have been the last few years," Hillier said.
Hillier said he needed to pull back the reigns this week and use his patience to his advantage.
"I tend to get on a roll and it’s pretty easy to try and force the issue even more, and sometimes I tend to push a little too hard.
"Whereas the course out there, if you play smart there are a lot of opportunities to be hard.
"I think that’s going to be key this week. Just play the ball on its merits and don’t get too carried away."
New Zealand Open director Michael Glading made no secret he would love to see a Kiwi lift the trophy again.
"Of course we’re prejudiced and of course we’d like to do it," Glading said.
"Brutally honest, we would love it.
"It seems like yesterday Matt Hendry won it and the after party was probably bigger than normal."
The weather looks good for the first two rounds of the $2million Open, teeing off today across both the Coronet and Remarkables courses at the resort.
The field appears deeper than previous years, featuring 20 Japanese players — including defending champion Takahiro Hataji — and more than 60 Australian golfers.
NZ Open
The facts
Where: Millbrook Resort, Arrowtown.
What: Four rounds starting today.
Format: Up to 156 amateurs and 156 professionals play alongside each other. Professionals compete for the NZ Open title, while pairings play best-ball format for the pro-am championship.
Cut: Top 60 plus ties (professionals), top 40 pro-am.
Sanctioning: PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour, in partnership with Japan Tour.
Purse: $2 million.
Defending champion: Takahiro Hataji (Japan).
