Ryan Peake completed an extraordinary story of Redemption on Sunday.
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Australian Ryan Peake just finished one redemption for Sunday ages.
When he was 21, his life was very different when he was part of the illegal engines, rebels and he was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a serious attack.
Now 31 years old, Peake has worked his way back in competitive Golf, and on Sunday, starting on the fourth day of the shooting in New Zealand Open, he fired a last five-year round at Millbrook Resort and won the tournament for his first professional victory.
While New Zealand Open is part of the open qualification series, Peake’s victory wins it a place in the open championship this summer in Royal.
“I’ve just changed my life,” Peake said. “That’s what I do. I want to be here and just play golf. The story is what it is, but I’m just here playing golf.
Peake almost lost the tour this week when his trip was held by immigration officials in New Zealand because of his criminal precedents. He did not arrive at Millbrook, not far from Queenstown, to Tuesday.
He will also need special cleaning to travel to northern Ireland to open in July.
Peake was a promising young player in Western Australia growing up, including the game against the winner of the 2022 Cameron Smith open championship. But his career was avoided by the condemnation of the attack for 2014.
While in prison, coach Rinkie Smith reached him and asked if he had any interest in revitalizing his golf career after his release. He had given up the game completely in his late teens
Fortunately, Peake said yes and the two set out to work when he was released in 2019 and Peake won his Australian tournament for the first time for this season.
This week, he played the last 55 holes without Bogey and nailed an eight-legged bird stroke in the 72nd hole to close the victory with a blow to Jack Thompson, Kazuki Higa and Ian Snyman.
“I always knew I could do it; It was just a matter of time when I was going to do it, “Peake said.”
“He had the same conversation with me when I lost cutting in Aussie Open and Aussie PGA.
“We set some goals of how we wanted to finish the rest of the year and together with my family, my team, everyone believed. But above all I believed.”
