Robert Gates needed his big lead to win NZ Open

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand -- Robert Gates became the 13th player to win his Nationwide Tour debut today when a closing two-over 74 was good enough to give him a one-stroke victory over Australia's Andrew Dodt in the tour's season-opening New Zealand Open.
Gates, the 6ft 6in former Texas A&M player who played the Canadian Tour last year, had a 14-under 274 total at The Hills. He opened with rounds of 65, 67 and 68 in the event also sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Gates, three strokes ahead entering the round, had a double bogey on the par-3 16th to fall into a tie with Dodt at 14 under, but Dodt followed with a double bogey of his own on the par-5 17th. Dodt birdied the final hole for a 72.
"I didn't hit really many bad shots at all. I got some bad breaks and that's golf," said Gates, who earned $108,000. "I was fortunate the first three rounds to get a lot of great ones. Andrew played an absolutely wonderful back nine."
Former Southern California star Jamie Lovemark (68) was third at 12 under.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 Robert Gates 65 67 68 74
275 Andrew Dodt 65 68 70 72
276 Jamie Lovemark 70 69 69 68
277 Michael Curtain 69 68 68 72
278 Mark Hensby 71 70 66 71
279 Casey Wittenberg 72 69 70 68
280 Kevin Kisner 69 69 72 70, Martin Piller 71 66 72 71
281 Jim Carter 72 70 71 68, Scott Dunlap 70 70 72 69, James Hahn 75 66 71 69, Gavin Coles 72 70 70 69, Josh Geary 69 69 73 70, Andrew Buckle 67 72 72 70, Kevin Chappell 70 66 71 74
282 Won Joon Lee 68 74 70 70, Barrett Jarosch 69 69 71 73, Phil Tataurangi 69 68 71 74
283 Jeff Gallagher 69 69 74 71, Bradley Iles 71 67 72 73, Brendan Steele 72 70 68 73, Tag Ridings 69 70 69 75
284 Mark Anderson 74 68 70 72, Matt Jager 68 73 70 73, Scott Gardiner 70 67 73 74, Rob Oppenheim 72 68 70 74, D.J. Brigman 66 69 74 75
285 Paul Gow 70 71 71 73, Alistair Presnell 70 71 69 75, Kelly Grunewald 68 71 69 77, Matthew Griffin 67 70 70 78
286 Andrew Tschudin 71 71 74 70, Dave Schultz 67 71 75 73, Jon Mills 68 69 75 74, Keegan Bradley 69 71 72 74, Adam Bland 69 73 70 74
287 Ashley Hall 72 70 74 71, Kyle Stanley 70 69 75 73, Brian Smock 69 71 74 73, Ryan Haller 67 70 75 75, Justin Hicks 69 69 74 75, Stephen Dartnall 69 72 71 75, Jeff Brehaut 69 71 71 76, Michael Wright 67 71 72 77, Aaron Watkins 71 67 72 77, Darron Stiles 67 69 73 78
288 Jin Park 69 73 72 74, Jason Gore 70 72 70 76, Michael Sims 72 68 71 77, Jarrod Lyle 69 68 73 78, Peter O'Malley 70 69 71 78, David Smail 65 74 71 78, Andrew Martin 71 70 68 79
289 Ted Brown 71 70 75 73, Jay Delsing 70 70 74 75, Gareth Paddison 72 70 70 77, Chris Kirk 68 73 69 79
290 Jason Norris 73 69 75 73, Jess Daley 71 71 72 76, Ryan Armour 72 69 71 78
291 Terry Pilkadaris 70 70 78 73, Scott Stallings 72 69 76 74, Andrew Bonhomme 66 75 75 75, Nick Flanagan 67 75 72 77
294 Adam Crawford 68 74 80 72
297 Bryan DeCorso 71 71 75 80
Withdrew: 218 Joe Affrunti 69 73 76