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Round 1 – Thursday 26 February
- For instant access to updated Tee times and scoring, check out the New Zealand Open app!
- 8:30pm: The Live Blog is closed for the evening. Have a great night!
- 8:15pm: Play is officially suspended due to darkness. Players will be back on course tomorrow to finish round 1, and then straight into round 2! Cross your fingers for some better weather tomorrow!
- 7:55pm: Some light drizzle falling which suggests the end of play may not be too far away – with Matias Sanchez leading on 7-under from Kevin Na, Wade Ormsby on 5-under, along with Yuki Miya, the leading amateur, currently with 7 holes remaining. There are nine on 4-under with Koburi in the clubhouse, but Curtis Luck, Dan Hillier, Yoshida and Watney still on the course. And 43 players on 2-under … with the horn expected to blow anytime.
- 7:45pm: How much daylight is left in what are the best conditions of the day
- 7:35pm: PGA Tour American Nick Watney has joined the hot run to be 4-under through 8 holes on Coronet.
- 7:30pm: The still early evening conditions have brought some hot scoring – like Japan’s Tanzei Shimizu who has made five birdies in six holes to jump to 3-under.
- 7:20pm: Hold on – late in the evening, with the cool and clear conditions prevailing, top kiwi hope Daniel Hillier has made three birdies in a row to turn at 4-under on Coronet.
- 7:15pm: Not sure how long the daylight will hold – hopefully the back-markers will get through nine holes tonight – but in the meantime Matias Sanchez has jumped to 6-under and the sole lead with five holes to play.
- 7:05pm: The 20-year-old wonder kid Miya has made his fifth birdie in his first eight holes on the Remarkables to go to the joint lead on 5-under – playing in the group with New Zealand Open Chairman, John Hart.
- 7:00pm: Late on in this challenging day of weather, two others are charging with Australian Matias Sanchez at 4-under through 11 holes, and has been joined by Japan’s Taiki Yoshida has joined him on 4-under through six holes.
- 6:40pm: Twenty-year-old Christchurch NZ Academy player Yuki Miya has made a storming start to his round. Teeing off the back nine of the Remarkable course, the amateur is 4-under through seven holes.
- 5:32pm: Wade Ormsby has stormed up the leaderboard on the Coronet course with a -5 66 and is now joint leader with Kevin Na. Ormsby is currently the only player in the top 9 players on the leaderboard from the Coronet course.
- 5:03pm: Kobori drops a shot, and falls back into second at -4. Kevin Na currently is still the leader at -5. The chasing pack at -3 are hunting them down!
- 4:46pm: Kobori hits his tee shot into the water on his last hole of the day! Can he recover?
- 4:30pm: Kevin Na is sitting atop of the leaderboard at -5 and is now in the clubhouse!
- 4:25pm: Kazuma Kobori if at -4 with two holes to play on the Remarkables course.
- 3:45pm: The rain continues to fall here at Millbrook Resort but the players are pushing on and playing through.
- 3:30pm: New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori has holed in one on the par-3 fourth hole to jump to 4-under par.
- 3:15pm: Kevin Na holds off the kiwis on 4-under with 5 holes to play in a delayed and wet start. He is one shot ahead of kiwi Steven Alker on 3-under, hometown pro Ben Campbell and 2017 winner Michael Hendry, both on 2-under.
- 2:45pm: Multiple PGA winner Kevin Na and world-leading Champions Tour kiwi Steven Alker hold a one-shot lead midway through their opening round – both at 3-under on the Remarkables course.
- 1:45pm: The Remarkables course is proving more friendly in the rainy conditions for the opening round of the New Zealand Open, in partnership with Millbrook Resort. Currently 18 players are under par through the opening nine holes with 15 of them playing the Remarkables and three on the Coronet course.
- 1:15pm: American Kevin Na, who said he was excited to make his NZ Open debut, is the early leader at 3-under par through seven holes on the Remakables course.
- 12:25pm: US Champions Tour star Steven Alker has started strongly – with former All Black Jeff Wilson on his bag. Alker is 2-under through three holes on the Remarkables course in a 3-way share of the lead with fellow kiwi Sam Jones and Korea’s Hakhyung Kim.
- 11.50am: Kiwi hopes 2017 champion Michael Hendry, local star Ben Campbell and one of the leading Seniors professionals Steven Alker all 1-under to open their campaigns.
- 11.35am: 5-time USPGA winner Kevin Na has birdied his first hole on the Remarkables course to join the early leaders.
- 11.30am: American Chase Koepka and Australians Douglas Klein and Jedlah Morgan are all 1-under par in the early stages of the rain-delayed start to the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort.
- 10.40am: Play is getting underway after a 3hr weather delay in cool overcast conditions.
- 9.16am: Play will start at 10.40am
- 8:21 am: Play will not resume before 9:40 am – Next update no later than 9 am
- 7:40 am: Play suspended due to the course being unplayable. We’re aiming to restart at 8:40am.
- 12:01 am: LIVE Blog will start from 7:45 am
