When Denzil Ieremia lined up at last year’s New Zealand Open he was a couple of weeks into a professional career.
His world ranking reflected that — above 2000, and just a greenhorn in the professional game.
Now, a year later, Ieremia, who turned 24 last weekend, will line up at the New Zealand Open tomorrow as one of the real chances for a home-town win.
He has risen in a year to being just outside the top 400 in the world, on the back of a first year in which he has had six top-10 finishes and missed the cut just four times in 14 tournaments.
His game is in good shape and he is hoping to make up for missing the cut last year.
"The form is good. I have been playing nicely for the past six to seven months and learning something new every week. And hopefully will learn something more this week," he said.
"Professional golf is a little bit different than college. You are a bit more on your own while at college you have someone looking after you. [In] professional golf you have more accountability and that means a bit more of a drive to win."
Ieremia, who comes from Waikato, finished fifth in the Australian Open in December, and played golf at Iowa State University.
His game had evolved in the past few months.
"I’ve always hit it a long way off the tee and since I turned pro I have learned to dial in my wedges and control my trajectory. Then just off the course I have learnt how to manage my body and my time a bit better."
He felt Millbrook suited him better with his length, while The Hills was more about the need for accuracy and putting the ball in the right place.
Ieremia arrived at the end of last week and played the courses over the weekend which should help him.
Should he be in the reckoning this weekend, Millbrook, where the the final two rounds are played, should suit him.
"Around Millbrook I will be able to use my length to an advantage.
"Like anywhere, though, you have to be on the short stuff and able to hole those. You have to be patient around here. There are birdies out there. But if you get too aggressive it can burn you."
He missed the cut last year at the New Zealand Open but still enjoyed it.
"It was really cool. I missed the cut but I look back at it now and think if I did not miss the cut last year I wouldn’t have played so well for the rest of the year. I learned a lot of things."
