Peake wins New Zealand Open for remarkable comeback story

Ryan Peake triumphed at the New Zealand Open presented Sky Sport to complete a remarkable Hollywood-style comeback story.

The Australian lefthander holed a 10-foot par putt on the par-3 18th to win by one and avoid a playoff with three Asian Tour regulars: his compatriot Jack Thompson, Japan’s Kazuki Higa, and South African Ian Snyman.

RELATED: Final scores

Peake’s putt, the final shot of the tournament, saw him fire a final round 5-under 66 to finish at 23 under for the week at Millbrook Golf Resort in scenically spectacular Queenstown.

Thompson carded a 63, while Higa and Snyman both returned 66s – in an event jointly sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, and the Asian Tour, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.

LIV Golf reserve player John Catlin, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, finished solo seventh and four shots off the lead after a stellar 7-under 64. Ripper GC's Lucas Herbert finished T21 while RangeGoats GC's newest member Ben Campbell of New Zealand finished 58th.

Korea’s Guntaek Koh, the leader by four at the start of the day, carded a disappointing 1-over 72 to finish fifth.

Both Thompson and Snyman, playing ahead of Peake, missed makeable birdie putts on the last, from 15 and 6 feet, respectively, which would have seen them reach 23 under.

Peake had just made it to that total after a birdie on the par-5 17th following a brilliant lag putt from 30 feet from the back of the green.

Ten years ago, at the age of 21, he was jailed for five years for assault. He was a member of the Rebels bike gang, having earlier been a promising amateur golfer. It was while he was in prison that renowned coach Ritchie Smith reached out and asked him whether he wanted to play competitive golf again. It was an offer he wisely accepted. His criminal record gave him visa issues entering New Zealand this week, and he only arrived on Tuesday evening.

“I’ve just changed my life,” said Peake. “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 ... I always knew I could do it. It was just a matter of time of when I was going to do it.”

He becomes the first lefthander to win New Zealand’s National Open since Sir Bob Charles in 1973, and he earned a place in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush, as the event is part of the Open Qualifying Series.

Remarkably, he went bogey-free for his final 55 holes, having dropped his only two shots of the week on the eighth and 15th holes in the first round.

He was paired in the final group today with Koh, who was three shots clear by the eighth. However, Peake made birdies on No. 9 and 12 to join Koh in a tie for the lead. The Korean then fell out of contention with three bogeys in a row from the 13th hole, while soon after Peake shared the top spot with Thompson, Snyman and Higa with two holes to play before the lefthander held his nerve to lift the Brodie Breeze Trophy. On the 18th, he missed the green to the right off the tee and faced a testing chip which he left 10 feet short.

China’s Bai Zhengkai closed with a 68 to finish solo sixth. Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho tied for eighth after also shooting 64 – meaning seven Asian Tour members finished in the top eight.

The next event on the Asian Tour is the International Series Macau presented by Wynn in three weeks time.

(Photo courtesy of Andrew Cornaga/Photosport)