Telfer's Thoughts 17.11.25

Close calls are, as we know only too well, the very essence, the very life blood, of sport. Not knowing the final outcome of a big sporting event until the very last minute or last play is what all sports fans quickly become addicted to.

We Kiwi sports fans experienced a couple of those nerve-wrackers over the weekend. Just a pity neither of them involved the All Blacks. No, 33-19 is not a close call. Not even Donald Trump could pass that score off as a close shave. No, the two I have in mind from the weekend both involve Kiwis, golfers Daniel Hillier and Steve Alker.

Hillier didn’t quite finish high enough at the Race to Dubai DP World Tour finale, so he missed out narrowly from securing a playing card for the 2026 USPGA Tour, the world’s most lucrative tour. Steve Alker, who threatened to run away with USPGA Senior‘s Tour championship finale after an opening round of 65, was eventually run down over the final 9 holes by winner Stewart Cink.

The consolation, which comes with narrow misses these days in an era of prohibitive prize money in big events, is that you may not have won the big prize but you’re still going home with loads of cash.

It will be an especially tough pill for Daniel Hillier to swallow, coming so close as he did to that highly sought after ticket-to-America. Talking to Ryan Fox at the Akarana Golf Club today, he feels Daniel could have safely secured that American ticket last week in Abu Dhabi when he had the lead going into the final day, only to let things slip a bit over the final 18. Even at the halfway stage in Dubai he was ranked 8th , so inside the top ten after his two opening rounds of 67 and 68. Clearly his third round of 72 cost him a place or two and then his final round of 70 which included a bogey 4 on 17. Who knows, if he had parred that hole it might have just about been the difference between sneaking into the top 10 or missing out on one of those spots.

He missed out by 158 points, finishing the season with 2045 points to the 2203 the 10th placer, Jordan Smith, accumulated.

It was nonetheless a very successful season for Daniel. All up he won a total of E1,784,000 or just over NZ$3.5 million.

Rookie Kazuma Kobori also had plenty to feel proud of, comfortably qualifying inside the Tour’s top 50 players for the rich DP World Tour finale. He was proving more than competitive for the first three days, floating around just outside the top 20. However on Day 4 the birdie chain dried up. He had his first red number on the 15th followed by another on the par 3 17th , and 5 bogeys undid a lot of the sterling golf he had played over the first three days. He finished the season in 43rd place on the order of merit and so comfortably retained his playing card for the 2026 DP World Tour without the

need to put himself through the nerve-wracking 6-round final qualifying tournament that many behind him must now endure.

Steve Alker also finished in the money at the Seniors Tour Championship finale, taking home just over US$1 million for his second place. As well he picked up an additional US$500,000 as his share of a top 6 season bonus pool. Steve started the day with 1 shot over Stewart Cink who had made up that 1 shot deficit by the turn. Both players were at 18 under, but 3 back nine bogeys were Steve’s undoing. Meanwhile Cink was the personification of consistency during that intense back nine battle. He didn’t drop a stroke and 2 back nine birdies proved enough for him to secure that 2-shot victory.