Hollywood A-lister Michael Pena’s shine rubs off on eccentric golf gun Austin Bautista in NZ PGA

A week after rubbing shoulders with Hollywood A-lister Michael Pena, the eccentric Austin Bautista made a flying start to the New Zealand PGA Championship on Thursday.

Austin Bautista and Michael Pena.

A week after rubbing shoulders with Hollywood A-lister Michael Pena, the eccentric Austin Bautista made a flying start to the New Zealand PGA Championship on Thursday.

Bautista, who counts the actor among his friends, spent the entire week playing alongside Pena at the New Zealand Open last week in the tournament’s popular Pro-Am format.

While they shared a few laughs and a red carpet ride through Queenstown, Bautista is again flying solo and showed why his “best ever” form is ready to include another win on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Austin Bautista at the NZ PGA. Picture: PGA of Australia

“I was kind of nagging him to come play (the New Zealand Open) and he was happy to come do it,” Bautista said after a seven-under 65 at Hastings Golf Club.

“I wasn’t quite as nervous because we played together 30 to 40 times already, maybe 50 times. It was just kind of good to have a friend who is good at golf, and also pretty funny to play with.

“He is an A-lister and he did have everyone coming up to him there and you get treated maybe a little differently by the tournament. It’s kind of funny. He’s travelling around places and so am I. We link up and play some random places.”

There was nothing random about Bautista’s start to one of the last events of the PGA Tour of Australasia season, carding eight birdies in wild conditions.

READ MORE: Chaos that nearly cost ex-prisoner a shot at NZ Open glory

Actor Michael Pena putts during day 3 of the New Zealand Open. Picture: Getty Images

He leads by two shots from New Zealand amateur Cooper Moore, Kyle Michel, Andrew Evans, Chang Gi Lee and Anthony Quayle, who all signed for 67s.

Quayle is still chasing a top three finish on the order of merit to secure a DP World Tour card next season.

Bautista’s resurgent form came after some advice from former tour professional Nick O’Hern, who urged him to sharpen his game from inside 125 metres after playing with the 28-year-old during a recent Pro-Am event on the Webex Players Series.

Said Bautista: “I can admit it when I need to get better in an area and I asked him, ‘what I need to work on?’ It almost seemed, ‘how could I be playing my whole career like this and not be working this way?’

“This is where I have to be an assassin of sorts. I have to pepper flags. If you’re going to beat the best, you need to be world class in this area. He really helped me what I need to work on.”

Bautista is chasing a third Australasian tour win in four years after previous successes in the Northern Territory PGA and a Players Series event in South Australia.

New Zealand Open champion Ryan Peake, who wrote one of sport’s great feelgood stories after spending five years in prison as a former Rebels bikie, fired an even-par 72 in his opening round.