NEWS AND NOTES
Nick Who Makes a Name Down Under
Posted: Wed December 3, 1997
Among overnight sensations, few have shown up at the top of a
second-day leader board with a lower Q rating than Nick O'Hern.
After the 26-year-old Aussie took a tournament-leading 11-under
133 into the clubhouse at last week's Australian Open at the
Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, his idol and countryman,
Greg Norman, was moved to say, "I saw him up on the leader board
and questioned myself, Do I know this guy?"
No one did. Since joining the Australian tour full time last
year, O'Hern had made only two cuts and slightly more than
$3,000. In Melbourne he was on such a tight budget that he
carried his own bag during the first round. Only after shooting
67 that day did he get a caddie: his wife, Alana, who flew in
from Perth and arrived just in time to lug his bag during his
second-round 66.
O'Hern's lead was short-lived. He shot 74 last Saturday but
bounced back with a 72 on Sunday to finish fifth and take home
$42,000, increasing his career earnings by nearly 1,400%. Said
Norman, who lost the tournament to Lee Westwood of England on
the fourth hole of a playoff: "The young talent in Australia is
very impressive right now." But no longer anonymous.
Issue date: December 8, 1997
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