WA’s Ryan Peake has completed a remarkable story of redemption with a pulsating win at the 104th New Zealand Open.
Trailing Korean Guntaek Koh by four strokes at the start of the final round at Millbrook Resort, Peake made a nerveless 10-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole to avoid a playoff with fellow Australian Jack Thompson (63), Japan’s Kazuki Higa (66) and South African Ian Snyman (66).
The 31-year-old went bogey-free for his final 55 holes and shot 5-under 66 on Sunday to finish atop the leaderboard at 23-under par, becoming the first lefthander to win the NZ Open since Sir Bob Charles in 1973.
Peake will now contest the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush in July and is in contention to claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, moving up to second place behind Elvis Smylie.
Given his back-story that includes amateur golf alongside Cameron Smith and a five-year stint in jail while a member of the Rebels bikie gang, Peake did not have the necessary visa to travel to New Zealand until the start of the week.
He arrived in Queenstown on Tuesday, played 36 holes on Wednesday and leaves with another extraordinary chapter added to his story.
“I’ve just changed my life,” Peake said post-round. “This is what I do. I want to be here and just play golf. The story is what it is, but I’m just out here playing golf.”
It was while he was incarcerated that renowned coach Ritchie Smith reached out and asked whether Peake wanted to play competitive golf again.
He wondered whether he was a charity case, but also knew Smith enough to know he wouldn’t waste time on an assignment he saw no future in.
“I always knew I could do it; it was just a matter of time,” Peake added. “Elvis Smylie was in the same predicament not too long ago and Ritchie Smith said it was going to switch and that you’ve just got to commit to it.
“He had the same chat with me when I missed the cut at the Aussie Open and the Aussie PGA. We set out some goals of how we wanted to finish off the rest of the year and along with my family, my team, everyone believed. But most of all, I believed as well.”
Ryan Peake celebrates holing the winning putt
Peake scales summit it the hard way
Given the play of Koh over the previous 36 holes, Peake’s belief in his chances of winning had to have been tested early on Sunday.
A birdie at the fifth hole lifted Peake into a tie for second but still three shots off the lead, that deficit trimmed to two by the seventh hole.
Koh moved three shots clear again with birdie at the par-4 eighth but Peake stayed in the frame with crucial birdies at nine and 12 to join Koh at 22-under and tied for the lead.
Three bogeys in succession by Koh from the 13th hole dramatically changed the complexion of the tournament, Peake suddenly sharing top spot with Thompson, Snyman and Higa with two holes to play.
Thompson and Higa both missed birdie chances at the final hole in the group in front, leaving Peake to two-putt for birdie from the back fringe at the par-five 17th to move one clear, his first putt coming to rest just two feet to the left of the cup.
It meant that par at a par-three finisher would seal victory, only for Peake to add to the tension when he missed the green to the right with his tee shot.
Left with a testing chip across the green towards water on the far side, Peake came up short with his chip. He then showed remarkable composure to hole the putt for par and add his name to the New Zealand Open’s remarkable history.
View the New Zealand Open final leaderboard here.
View the Challenger PGA Tour Order of Merit here.
Photos: Australian Golf Media
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