Victorian David Bransdon won the inaugural Lexus of Blackburn Heritage Classic with a birdie on the first play-off hole at the Heritage Golf and Country Club on Sunday. It marks a successful summer for Bransdon who has made the cut in all the PGA Tour Australasia events he entered and marks his best finish of the summer following his tie for 8th place at the Talisker Masters in November in Melbourne. Heading into the final round at the Heritage, Bransdon looked in control of the tournament throughout the final day before being caught by South Australian Max McCardle and 17-year-old Golf Australia National Squad amateur Lucas Herbert. The trio finished tied on 14-under the card where it took just one playoff hole for a relaxed Bransdon to triumph with a birdie. I was actually more relaxed in the playoff than I was in regulation playing the 18th – it was just a bizarre thing. I thought I had put myself in a good position to win so I just went out and hit the shots. I had hit good shots all day so I just trusted what I was doing and pulled it off. I played really good early to set myself up in a good position, I had a nice putt on the first and really good iron shots for the next seven holes, said Bransdon. Bransdon said a slip at the turn opened the door for McCardle and Herbert. But I made a bit of a mental error on nine and that sort of brought me back to the boys a bit. Bransdon, who lead the Lexus of Blackburn Heritage Classic after the first and second rounds, was happy that he was able close out the tournament with a win. I am pretty happy right now, obviously it has been eluded to that it s been a long career and so it s nice to win again, added Bransdon who has competed on the PGA Tour of Australasia since 1995. Heading into the last round, I wasn t confident that I could win because I can t control what anyone else does, but I was confident in my abilities and that I could stay in contention by playing well. I have been doing that the last couple of days and so it s just nice to have pulled it off with some self belief. This becomes the 39-year-old s third tournament win on his home Tour following his victories in the 1993 Tasmanian Open and 2010 Western Australian PGA Championship. Finishing a shot out of the playoff on 13-under the card was New Zealand s Michael Hendry. Rounding out the top-5 on the leaderboard was New South Welshman Matthew Giles and Victorian amateur Nathan Holman with a score of 10-under 278.
Author: Golf Australia