Australian Kennedy bags second New Zealand Open title
SHOWS: ARROWTOWN, NEW ZEALAND (MARCH 1, 2020) (ASIA TOUR MEDIA - SEE RESTRICTIONS) 1.
BRAD KENNEDY HOLES HIS BIRDIE PUTT AT THE 13TH 2.
LUCAS HERBERT BIRDIES THE 15TH 3.
HERBERT'S TEE SHOT AT THE 18TH GOES INTO THE WATER 4.
NICK FLANAGAN BIRDIES THE 7TH 5.
JOOHYUNG KIM BIRDIES THE 14TH 6.
SAMUEL EVES HAS A HOLE IN ONE AT THE 13TH 7.
KENNEDY BIRDIES THE 16TH 8.
KENNEDY MAKES PAR AT THE 18TH TO WIN TITLE 9.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD KENNEDY SAYING: "I knew the course was playing at it's best and it would take something special chasing down Lucas (Herbert).
And playing with Chan (Kim) and Nick (Flanagan) it was going to be all out there.
So I just gutsed it out and really tried to play within my game as much as I could and just let my putter do the talking today.
Just so relieved that to win this again after nine years is just unbelievable." 10.
KENNEDY WITH TROPHY STORY: Australia's Brad Kennedy hit a spotless eight-under-par 63 in the final round of the New Zealand Open to chase down compatriot Lucas Herbert and clinch the title by two strokes on Sunday (March 1).
Kennedy, 45, gained three strokes on the front nine and a further five after the turn for a total of 21-under-par 264 at the Millbrook Resort to claim the title he also won in 2011.
Herbert, who won the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic in January, had appeared to be cruising but lost his way after a double-bogey on the 13th.
Needing a birdie at the closing hole to force a playoff, he instead found water and finished with a bogey to end two strokes ahead of fellow Australian Nick Flanagan.
(Production: Andy Ragg)