Unheralded Kiwi rookie Cameron Harlock has turned a tournament invitation into a potential maiden professional win at the New Zealand PGA Championship at Hastings Golf Club.
On a Saturday in which the leaders stalled and contenders came from the clouds, Harlock’s eagle on the par-five 17th in his five-under 67 was enough to nudge one clear of a congested leaderboard at 14-under.
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Queensland’s Shae Wools-Cobb (67) and Kiwi left-hander Tyler Hodge (70) share second at 13-under, with 16-year-old amateur Cooper Moore (71) and another New Zealander Denzel Ieremia (66) tied for fourth at 12-under.
Nineteen players will start Sunday within five strokes of the lead, Harlock suddenly thrust to the front in just his second start on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Out in three-under, Harlock made bogey at the par-four 11th for the second straight day before forging to the front-running position with a birdie at 14 and eagle at 17.
“I felt like I had a good number and it came out pretty awfully to be honest,” Harlock said of his second shot into the par-five. “It surprised me a little bit but was probably one of those ones where it was so bad that it was actually in an OK spot.
“I had about 40 metres left and it wasn’t an easy shot but just tried to hit the best shot that I could and it just dropped in the front edge.”
After playing his way into the Vic Open last month by winning the Monday qualifier at Curlewis, Harlock was given a crash course in professional golf education during a practice round with Australian veterans Sam Brazel, Marcus Fraser and Matt Millar.
Although he would miss the cut at 13th Beach, Harlock said it was an invaluable learning experience less than a year after graduating from Boston College.
“Getting those guys to steer me around and just see how they worked and their practice round was actually a massive benefit,” said the Auckland native
Another with limited playing opportunities of late has been Wools-Cobb. Due to his current category, Wools-Cobb has played just two events since the start of the year, a heart-to-heart with coach John Wright unlocking his love for the game again.
The biggest moves on Saturday came from Newcastle rookie Jye Pickin and perennial contender this season, Jake McLeod.
Pickin and McLeod both shot seven-under 65s in Round 3 to be tied for sixth and just three strokes off the lead.
Pickin has missed the cut in each of his previous three starts, while McLeod’s runner-up finish to Nick Voke at the Players Series Sydney tournament was his third top-five finish of the season.
One-under playing the back nine on Friday, McLeod went three-under in his final eight holes to make the cut. He intends to carry through a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality as he chases a first win since the 2018 NSW Open.
“If you just made the cut, you can’t really go backwards so there’s only forwards,” said McLeod, who had six birdies and an eagle in his round of seven-under.
“Obviously running down the leaderboard here is not going to do anything on the Order of Merit so you need to try your luck and push pretty hard I reckon.”
The final round of the NZ PGA Championship tees off at 10.15am.