Pike, Rose and Barnes: Chalk and Cheese
IN: News | Australasian PGA | MasterCard Masters (2006) | Round Three | by David Collinge | 25 Nov 2006
The leaderboard at the beginning of day three of this year's MasterCard Masters typifies why golf is sometimes known as the great leveller.
Only three strokes separate leader Aaron Pike, Englishman Justin Rose (currently 2nd) and Australia's Kurt Barnes (3rd). At first glance they all seem very similar. Rose and Barnes shot 66's yesterday. Pike shot a 69 after his opening 64. There's not much between them in terms of scores. They are obviously all good players.
Look a little deeper though, and differences begin to emerge.
Kurt Barnes was born in Muswellbrook in NSW's Hunter Valley. He came from a family with a background in coal mining and rugby league - his father was coach of the NSW Country under 17 side. Barnes was a quality golf amateur - he won the National title in 2002 and then gave up his job as a storeman and turned professional.
He's had some significant successes - wins in the 2004 Queensland PGA (at 29 under par), and the 2005 Victorian Open. Probably the most publicity he ever got was when he shot an opening round 65 to lead the 2004 Australian Open for a day, ultimately finishing eighth.
Since then he's mainly played the Von Nida Tour, and not without some success - he recently won the 2006 Mt Isa Open. Yet in spite of his obvious talent, and capacity to win, the power hitter has struggled to make much more than a bare living out of golf. "Hopefully," he said recently, "next year I'll be in the US". A win here would kick-start that goal.
Less than a year older than Barnes, Justin Rose, seems to have had a rather different experience. Born in South Africa, he was also a talented amateur and turned pro in 1998. Based in England he played much of his early golf on the European tours before heading to the US in 2004. He's played steadily there, and this year came in at 47th on the US PGA money list, earning a cool US$1.6 million in prize money, although he's yet to win a US Tour event.
The differences don't end there. Rose has his own website (www.justinrose.com), from which he sells his instructional golf DVDs. He's patron of a charity, the Ken Rose Foundation, which aims to raise funds for leukaemia sufferers and their families. From the website you can download Justin Rose wallpapers to your mobile phone or buy a Justin Rose golf cap. He writes a diary of his travels around the world competing in golf tournaments.
For Aaron Pike, things are different again. Still only 21, and still an amateur, his biggest win today has been the 2005 Queensland Amateur. Just six years ago he had a handicap of 15! He'd like very much to be the first amateur to win the Masters, and seemed confident last night that he can:
"I have shown them for the first two days that I can play. If I shoot 11 under again (over the final two days), it is going to be hard for those guys to run over the top of me. They are going to have to shoot 14 or 15 under, which is very hard around this course."
Headline Australian events like the Masters - with plenty of talent from the northern hemisphere - are one of the rare opportunities for our up and coming professionals and would be professionals to mix it with the cream of local and overseas golfers, to earn a reasonable bit of money, and perhaps to give themselves a springboard into the next league.
Despite the differences in background and career records, only a couple of shots separate Pike, Rose and Barnes at Huntingdale. A win here - and donning the gold jacket - will mean different things for each of them. But one thing they will all be doing today and tomorrow is giving no quarter.
Photo - Anthony Powter
