American Friesen leads as Michael Sim

drops back to joint 13th in NZ PGA

American Steve Friesen leads the New Zealand PGA championship with an 11-under-par tally of 205 with one more round to go over the par-72 Clearwater course, Christchurch.
Friesen is a shot ahead of Steve Alker of New Zealand, who shot 67 Saturday, and second-round co-leader Kurt Barnes of Australia (71) in the event jointly sanctioned by the U.S. Nationwide and Australasian PGA tours.
Danny Lee, the New Zealand amateur who won Johnnie Walker Classic last month, shot a 69 to top a group at 9 under. The 18-year-old Lee, also the U.S. Amateur champion, plans to turn pro after the Masters. Born in South Korea, he moved to New Zealand at age 8.
Fellow New Zealander David Smail (68) also was 9 under along with Americans Ryan Hietala (69) and Craig Bowden (70) and Australia's Stephen Dartnall (68).
New Zealand's Gareth Paddison and American Josh Teater, who shared the second-round lead with Barnes, dropped back. Paddison shot 74 and is four shots behind Friesen, while Teater had a 75 and is another stroke behind.
At 31, Friesen has full playing rights on the Nationwide Tour for the first time this year.
"I will be nervous because it is a huge opportunity," Friesen said of the final round Sunday.
"But I am going to have to play well. It is not as if I have a seven-shot lead on the field. There are a lot of good golfers real close."
Alker said that with he, Smail and Lee all in contention, he hopes a local golfer might win it.
"Let's hope we can pull one out," Alker said. "We Kiwis have a few New Zealand Opens under our belts but to get this one has been a while coming."
Alker, a Challenge Tour player in Europe after losing his card on the main circuit there, said the arrival of the wind added another two shots in difficulty to the course Saturday.
"It is a totally different golf course," he said. "The leaders haven't really moved today, which shows it's a different beast."
Aberdeen-born Michael Sim has not got to grips with the term "moving day" for the third round in pro tournaments. In last week's Moonah Classic near Melbourne, he had a third-round 76 which left him needing a 70 in the final round to finish third.
Today, in the NZ PGA Championship, a level-par 72 was a good enough score but not good enough in terms of making a winning challenge. Sim is now lying joint 13th on 209, four shots off the pace.
A great final round could still see him chalk up the victory he needs to boost his self-confidence as he tries to rebuild a golf career torpedoed by a lower back stess fracture before he could make his debut on the US PGA Tour.
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