Alker leads Kiwi sweep at HSBC New Zealand PGA

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Steve Alker (center) posed with runners-up David Smail (left) and Josh Geary (right) as New Zealanders finished 1-2-3 in the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- The people of New Zealand can finally celebrate one of their own winning the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship. Hamilton native Steve Alker shot a final-round 67 Sunday to become the first Kiwi to win the national title since Frank Nobilo won in 1987, the final year it was contested before becoming a co-sanctioned, Nationwide Tour event in 2002.

Inside the Numbers

Alker's Final Stats

Category Total Rank Eagles 1 T2 Birdies 17 T17 Pars 50 12 Bogeys 4 T62 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 66.1% T1 Greens in Regulation 83.3% T1 Putts per Round 29.8 T38 Putts per GIR 1.767 36 Sand Saves 0 N/A

Alker, who needed a Sponsor Exemption to make the starting field, finished at 15-under 273 and led the Kiwis to 1-2-3 sweep. Josh Geary (67) and David Smail (68) shared second place in the event, the third stop on the 2009 Nationwide Tour schedule.

"It's pretty special to win here," said Alker, who was the touring pro for the Clearwater Resort for three years starting in 2002. "It's great to come back here and see all the members and staff. It's really been a fun week for me."

Idaho's Ryan Hietala (69) was the top American finisher with his tie for fourth. Hietala, Australian Michael Sim (67) and Norway's Henrik Bjornstad (67) all wound up a 12-under 276.

Five players shared seventh place, four strokes back, including third-round leader Steve Friesen (72) of Nebraska, second-round co-leader Josh Teater of Kentucky (67) and reigning U.S. Amateur Champion Danny Lee (70), an 18-year-old born in Korea but now a Kiwi as well.

Alker's victory was the result of simple golf strategy: Hit as many fairways and greens as possible. The 37-year-old father of two tied for first this week in both fairways hit and greens in regulation.

"It was a determined effort to get my game in that kind of shape," he said after hitting 32 of 36 greens on the weekend. "I'm not biggest guy and certainly not one of the longest hitters out here. I've always focused my golf on hitting as many fairways and greens as possible."

Sunday's final round had all the makings of a fight to the finish, but Alker had other plans. By the time Alker's final threesome made the turn, there were four players tied at the top, five more one stroke back and another 10 within four of the lead.

"I hit the ball great for the first three days and did so again on the front nine as well," said Alker, who began the day one shot back of Friesen. "I haven't been in this position in a while and my heart was definitely ticking a little faster than normal."

Alker made three consecutive birdies starting at No. 9 to grab the outright lead. A short birdie putt at No.15 put him 16 under and three strokes in front of his challengers, who stumbled late in the round as the winds slowly picked up, returning to a more normal 10-15 mph speed.

"I didn't look at a leaderboard all day," said Alker. "I asked my caddie how we stood on 17 and he said we were a couple clear. I just knuckled down and made a couple of pars."

Alker adds this title to the 2002 Louisiana Open crown he won in a playoff. The win is worth $108,000 but it also gives him full status for 2009 and 2010 on both the Australasian Tour and the Nationwide Tour, where he was also a member from 2004-06.

"It's nice that my game held up. I made of couple of putts at the right time. It's been a bit of a dry spell for me," said Alker, who missed the cut at last week's Moonah Classic. "Obviously, this comes at a really good time for me."

After the 2006 season, Alker decided to try his hand on the European Tour. He moved his family to London and spent the 2007 season as a full member and the 2008 campaign on the Challenge Tour.

Alker and his family still own a home in the Phoenix area, and he admitted after Saturday's play that they might consider a return trip to the States if the opportunity presented itself. An early Sunday morning call to London that ended with a happy birthday wish for his wife also included talk of a possible return to Arizona.

"She's had a bit of itchy feet about getting back. It's a good thing we didn't sell that house," he laughed. "I'll jump at the chance to go back. The plans are a bit up in the air at this point but we'll sit down and talk about it for sure now."

Hietala, who won in Lousiana in 2005, was never able to put any pressure on the leaders but remained within shouting distance during the final 18.

"I finally figured out how to play this golf course," said the big-hitting Hietala, who had gone 0-7 in cuts made dating back to 2004 in New Zealand and Australia prior to this week. "I played the back nine without really hitting my driver all week. I think there are some courses where I have to tone my game down.

"It's about aggressive swings to conservative spots versus being stupid. It's about hitting golf shots rather than just bombing it down there. It's fun. It's a good way to start the year."

The Nationwide Tour heads to Queenstown next week for the Michael Hill New Zealand Open at The Hills Golf Club, the final stop on the Tour's three-city swing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Fourth-Round Notes: Gavin Coles, winner in 2004, shot a 4-under 68 Sunday with nine birdies. Coles was done in by a triple bogey at No. 8 and a double bogey at the closing 18th. Coles finished at 11-under 277 and tied for seventh. He was two strokes off the lead when he played the final hole. ... Michael Sim, who tied for fourth, has started the year on a solid streak. The 24-year-old Aussie tied for 23 at the season-opening Panama Digicel Championship and was solo third at last week's Moonah Classic. ... Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee shot a 2-under 70 and wound up tied for seventh, four back of Alker. Lee had closed to within one of the lead as he made the turn, but then posted five 5s on his first six holes on the closing nine to fall back to 9 under and six off the pace. Lee closed his day with back-to-back birdies to move back up the leaderboard. ... Sunday's scoring average was 70.827, the lowest single-round average in the tournament's eight-year history at Clearwater.