A good luck kiss of his driver has helped Australian Zach Murray clamber to a one-shot lead going into the final round of the 100th New Zealand Open in Queenstown.

Murray started the day with a five-shot buffer over the field, but his third bogey of the day on the 10th saw him slide down the leaderboard at The Hills.

The 21-year old recorded a birdie-birdie ending to finish 17-under the card to grab a one-shot advantage over New Zealand’s Josh Geary.

Standing on the 18th tee and sharing the lead with Geary, Murray’s caddy convinced him to give his driver a smooch and he duly pounded his tee shot down the middle of the fairway to set up a finishing birdie.

“I gave Leuk the Duck a wee kiss on the last – it’s the Jarrod Lyle leukaemia duck – just for a wee bit of good luck. My caddy makes me kiss it every now and again, so a bit of humour,” said Murray.

Murray was able to reflect on a round where he kept himself together as his lead wilted, before earning an ovation from The Hills clubhouse with a strong finish.

“That’s what you live for in golf, to hole those putts on the last. It gave me a few goosebumps. I wasn’t playing bad earlier on, I just wasn’t capitalising on my good shots.”

Murray won on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia at the WA Open last year as an amateur, but is on the cusp of his first professional win after joining the paid ranks in November.

“Josh will obviously have a few followers about and it will be really nice to play in front of his home crowd,” added Murray.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying New Zealand at the moment, I think the crowds have been fantastic this week and super supportive of me.”

Not many were talking about Geary as a potential New Zealand Open champion after two rounds, but that all changed today.

Starting the day eight shots behind Murray, Geary was superb with his approach play on the way to a 9-under 63 which featured a memorable eagle on the driveable 340m par-4 15th.

“With Zach five shots in front you had to do something pretty special if he kept going the way he was,” said Geary.

“The field has caught up a bit which has given a few more players a chance.

“I didn’t do a lot different today. I hit a lot of good approach shots, a lot of close ones and gave myself smaller birdie putts. The short irons were definitely dialled in early on.”

Geary has been troubled by tightness in his hips and spent plenty of time stretching during the round.

“My hips have not been in a great spot this week and I’ve done a lot of work with the physio. There’s no pain, just not moving that well and it affects my golf swing and I lost a few tee shots early on from that. It felt better later on but I will do some more work with the physios and get it squared away.”

Fellow New Zealander Harry Bateman is three shots off the lead after a mixed round which included two bogeys and two eagles, for a share of third with Japan’s Ryuko Tokimatsu and Kodai Ichihara, who shot five birdies in his first six holes.

Rikuya Hoshino matched Geary for the round of the day with 9-under 63, three birdies in his closing four holes keeping him in sight of the leaders.

“I was aiming to play 8-under today but I’m glad to get one more birdie. I think I am in a good position for tomorrow, I’ll do my best to win,” said Hoshino

Hoshino is four shots off the pace, along with Australians Aaron Pike and 2014 New Zealand Open winner Dimitrios Papadatos.

Top-ranked Kiwi Ryan Fox put himself in a good position early in his round when he got to 12-under, but three bogeys saw him slip back to 10-under for the round.

“It was a frustrating day to be honest from 3-under after six and everything felt good. It got slow out there and I lost rhythm a bit and hit a couple of poor drives and didn’t putt anywhere near as good as yesterday,” Fox said.

“I need something silly low tomorrow, but Josh has done that today, so I know it is out there.”

Meanwhile, Geary would love to turn his boyhood dreams into reality by winning his national open.

“It would mean the world being from New Zealand to win your home Open. Only a select few have done that and some pretty good names at that. This is the event we grew up watching as kids. Even at the age of 13 or 14 I dreamed of playing in the Zealand Open, so to win it would be unbelievable for sure.”

Victorian amateur Zach Murray has stormed into the clubhouse recording an emphatic victory at the Nexus Risk Services WA Open.

A wire-to-wire winner, Murray fired rounds of 64, 70, 69, 69 for a tournament total 16-under 272 to win by two shots from fellow amateur David Micheluzzi.

Murray put on a show for the crowds on the back-9 reeling off birdies on the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to ensure he headed to the 18^th tee with a four-shot lead.

“I am sort of starting to calm down now; the adrenaline has been running high all day. I came home really strong which was really nice under the pressure,” added Murray.

“I holed a really big putt on 12 for birdie and that calmed me down. I hit a great shot into 13 and missed it. Then hit probably one of my worst shots for the week on 14 and made bogey. That made me re-set.

“I had finished well on the last few holes all week so in the back of my mind, I knew I could do it, which was crucial.

“It was nice to birdie 15 and 16. Then I hit probably two of the best shots I hit all week on 17 to have a two-putt birdie. It definitely made it a lot easier having a four-shot lead going down the last.

While his playing partner, Micheluzzi, made a birdie on the 72^nd hole of the tournament and Murray made a bogey, the trophy still went to the 21-year-old who had his dad caddying for him.

“It feels pretty special and it’s pretty cool to have dad here caddying for me,” added Murray.

“I knew dad was going to cry if I won, which he did. He works super hard to support my golf. It was so cool to have him here this week, to witness a win I haven’t had in a while, and my first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia.”

Murray becomes the third amateur in seven years to win the WA Open after Oliver Goss achieved the feat in 2012 as did Curtis Luck four years later.

“This means a lot; it is something I have been striving towards ever since the WA Open last year,” added Murray, who finished tied 9^th last year.

“It was really good for my confidence so I would say the WA Open will forever be a big part of my career and life.”

With his win Murray has earned full status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season, should he decide to turn pro in that time. However, it is a decision that he won’t rush into.

“I definitely had plans of turning in the near future but I have no idea what I will do,” added Murray.

“I have had a couple of mates turn pro, Brett Coletta and Ben Eccles who have won on Tour as well; from their experience, I know that it is a pretty tough decision.

“It’s one that I will have to sit down and have a good hard think about. It’s going to be my job so I don’t want to rush into things. I just have to make the best decision I can.”

Finishing outright third on 13-under the card, Matt Millar has walked away with the winner’s prize cheque of AU$15,000.

At 10-under the card, Jordan Mullaney, Blake Proverbs, Stephen Leaney, Brett Rankin and Damien Jordan all shared fourth place.

For all final scores please visit pga.org.au.

The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia heads to Brisbane Golf Club for the Isuzu Queensland Open next week.

For the full schedule please visit pga.org.au.

First-round leader Zach Murray has retained the top spot on the leaderboard heading into the weekend at the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open.

The Victorian amateur posted 2-under 70 in the second round to be 10-under the card and two shots clear of fellow Victorian amateur David Micheluzzi and Queenslander Damien Jordan.

“I just didn’t make as many putts as I did yesterday. I just had to stay pretty patient,” said Murray, who has set up a weekend tee time with his mate.

“He (Micheluzzi) is a good buddy of mine; we play together pretty much every day. We’ve had a couple of really good battles over the last couple of years. It will be nice to go head-to-head.

“He got me in the Vic Amateur late last year; he smoked me so I might have to get a bit of revenge.”

While Murray was happy to grind out his second round, Micheluzzi fired 4-under 68 to make up ground on the leader.

“I was playing a bit of catch-up this morning. I am happy to finish with two consecutive 68’s and get myself into the tournament,” said Micheluzzi, whose second round was highlighted by his second eagle on a par-4 for the week.

“I pitched in on the 16^th from about 40 metres; it was about the same distance as the 18^th yesterday.

“I got a bit lucky, it was going about six feet past and it hit the middle of the pin and dropped in,” added Micheluzzi, who is playing a smart game plan around Mount Lawley Golf Club.

“I am playing aggressive, but smart; I hit an iron off the 1^st and some other holes. But I am very versatile with my driver, I can hit it low, I can hit it high, so I think I will make more birdies with the driver than with irons.

“This course, the greens are small so it is easy to short side yourself, I have done that a few times this week.

“I just want to put myself in the right positions off the tee and be aggressive at pins when I need to.”

Matt Millar continues to show why he is referred to as Mr Consistent, the Canberra resident fired 6-under 66 to be 7-under the card and three shots off the lead.

He is joined at 5^th on the leaderboard by defending champion Stephen Leaney and Ben Ferguson who is making his professional debut this week.

The second round cut was made at 4-over par with 51 professionals and 16 amateurs making the weekend rounds.

The third round will tee off at 8.40am with Murray, Micheluzzi and Jordan on course at Mount Lawley Golf Club at 10.30am.

Victorian amateur Zach Murray has fired into the first round lead at the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open after equalling the course record at Mount Lawley Golf Club.

Playing in the morning field and starting on the 10^th tee, Murray got off to a steady start with six straight pars before making birdies at the 16^th and 17^th to be 2-under the card at the turn.

Murray ignited on the front-9 reeling off six birdies to be in the clubhouse at 8-under 64 and equal the course record set by Mitchell Brown in 2003.

“It’s nice to have a low opening round, it takes a little bit of pressure off having to try and come home late,” said Murray.

“Last year I seemed to have one or two-under, just plot my way along and then shot low in the last round.

“The conditions were great and the course is great so the opportunities were out there if you managed to roll a few putts in, which I did.”

The 21-year-old was looking forward to returning to the West after he finished 9^th in the WA Open last year, a result he credits with kick-starting his summer of golf.

“It is always nice to come back, I love Perth. I played here in a schoolboys championship about five or six years ago,” added Murray.

“Then I got a lot of confidence out of the WA Open last year, being able to compete at a professional event.”

Sitting one shot behind Murray is 2017 Victorian PGA Champion Damien Jordan who was complimentary of the amateur’s low round.

“It was absolutely perfect out there this morning. I thought I was playing pretty good but to see someone one better is fantastic golf,” said Jordan.

“The putter has been really hot. So it was good to make the most of hitting good shots.”

Placed in a tie for third on 6-under the card are Brett Rankin, defending champion Stephen Leaney and Ben Ferguson who made his professional debut today.

Conditions were much tougher for the afternoon field with the winds synonymous with Western Australia making scoring difficult.

Another Victorian amateur, David Micheluzzi, fared the best recording 4-under 68, highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 18^th. The 22-year-old chipped in after almost driving the green.

Also shooting 4-under 68 this afternoon was New Zealander Kieran Muir who celebrated his 31st birthday today.

The other highlight of the day belonged to New South Welshman Andrew Campbell who recorded a hole-in-one on the 146m par-3 6^th hole using his 9iron.

The second round of the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open tees off at 6.50am with Zach Murray on course at Mount Lawley Golf Club at 12pm.