West Australian Brett Rumford
made a dream start to his first professional golf tournament and then issued
a public warning to his good friend and former amateur rival and team-mate, Aaron Baddeley.
And that was for Baddeley to cool it a little on the confidence bit.
Rumford fears the admirable
self-belief of Baddeley could be misconstrued as arrogance.
He would hate Baddeley
telling everyone he can win every time he tees up in a tournament to be mistaken
for lack of respect for the rest of the players in the field.
"He has got to be careful,"
said Rumford, at 22, four years older than Baddeley. "It's becoming a bit of
a thing in sport.
"We saw it with Jelena
Dokic at the Australian Open tennis when she said the girl who had beaten her
was a nobody, and even with the Ryder Cup last year. But not for one minute am
I saying Aaron is, in any way, like this.
"I have nothing but respect
and admiration for him as a friend and for what he has achieved."
Rumford was speaking after
grabbing a one-shot lead in the New Zealand Open at Paraparaumu, where he chipped
in for eagle at the last and a five-under 66.
The score was six shots
better than Baddeley's opening-round 72 around the tricky 5919-metre layout about
40 kilometres north of Wellington on the Kapiti Coast.
Baddeley did not appear
comfortable at any stage yesterday.
"I just could not get anything
going out there," Baddeley said afterwards.
"I must have wasted five
or six shots during the round.
"Being my first tournament
for a month ,you forget how to save shots.
"I should have been a couple
under. The swing wasn't where it should have been. I'll go to the range and work
on it.
"(But) I've got a feel
for it (the course) now. I think I'll play good tomorrow."
Rumford certainly stole
the thunder of Baddeley yesterday. Both won on the PGA Tour Australasia before
Christmas when they were still amateurs.
Many players were critical
of the greens yesterday.
"They're mushy and soft,
just terrible really," one experienced and frustrated Australian campaigner said.
But Rumford did not complain
after making three birdies and two eagles, courtesy of the chip-in at the last
and after sinking a 4m putt for three at the 12th, for his five-under 66.
His score left him one
shot clear of six professionals including Australians Chris Gray, Matthew Habgood,
Jason Dawes and David Podlich.
Seven players shared the
third line on 68 and a pack of 14 was just one further shot away, including Kiwi
legend Bob Charles, who will turn 64 this year. Charles still holds the course
record at Paraparaumu – 62 in the 1968 Caltex Tournament.
The rotten luck of Tasmanian
Brett Partridge continued when he withdrew from the championship after three
holes because of a wrist injury. Australian PGA champion Greg Turner may not
be able to continue in the second round today because of a similar problem.
DAVID TOMS carded a nine-under-par
63, including two eagles, to take the first-round lead at the five-day Bob Hope
Classic at Palm Springs, California, yesterday.
Bradley Hughes was the
leading Australian with 66, one stroke ahead of Mathew Goggin. Robert Allenby
and Craig Spence both carded 68 while Greg Chalmers shot 69.
