BATHURST golfer Jarryd Bird has won plenty of titles in his time, but this weekend at Orange’s Wentworth Golf Club he will be aiming for a career first.
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Having won the Wentworth Open in 2012 and backed that up with another victory in 2013, Bird will begin his quest for a rare treble when he tees off at 12.48pm today.
“I haven’t won anything three times before – never,” Bird said.
“I think I might have a few nerves this weekend. It didn’t worry me too much last year when I was trying to defend it, but this time going for three there will be some nerves.”
Nerves aside, Bird has been in good touch of late.
He was part of the Central West team which placed third at the NSW Country Championships in Parkes, then went on to win the Orange Ex-Services’ Country Club Open.
After having a number of putts lip out when playing for Central West – at one stage enduring the frustration of having it happen on six consecutive greens – he used a different putter at Ex-Services, where he shot rounds of 67 and 69 to finish even with the card.
A putter again shapes as one of Bird’s weapons this weekend.
“I have got a nice choice of ammo in the bag; I’ve got a new putter,” Bird said.
“It’s a little bit different to the one I usually use. I used Tom Perfect’s putter two weekends ago at Ex-Services and I really liked it, so I ordered one that was very similar.
“I had a go of Tom’s putter here and it felt pretty good and felt pretty good at Ex-Services.
“It was pretty good to steal that win and get it under the belt and I am feeling pretty good at the moment. I had a round [on Thursday] and everything felt pretty good.”
To claim his first Wentworth Open crown in 2012, Bird came from a two-shot deficit on day one to beat leading Central West golfer Robert Payne by two strokes.
Last year he backed up that success by firing rounds of 69 and 72 to finish at one-over. That gave him a three stroke win over Jeff Wright, with fellow Bathurst golfer Phil Campbell third.
Wentworth is clearly a course Bird enjoys and while he can’t pinpoint exactly why, he hopes to continue his streak at the venue. Today will be the first time he has played there since last year’s win.
“I really don’t know why I go well there. It is pretty similar to Bathurst, but it just seems to all happen for me up there,” he said.
“It will be good to get back to Wentworth and be out there with all the cicadas,” Bird added with a chuckle.
