Victorian Ryan Lynch, the son of renowned international golf coach Dale Lynch, has capitalised on a series of errors by his rivals to clinch the WA PGA Championship.
The 25-year-old produced a final round of 67 to win the title by one shot at the Kalgoorlie Golf Club.
Lynch over-ran third round leader Chris Gaunt, who bogeyed three of his last four holes to finish in a share of second with South Australian Peter Cooke who stormed home with four birdies in his last five holes.
New Zealander Ben Campbell finished in outright fourth with Daniel Valente and West Australian amateur Jarryd Felton sharing fifth spot.
Gaunt, who led after rounds two and three, still appeared in control with five holes to play but he struggled over the closing stages and finished one back.
Lynch’s victory guarantees him starts at the Australian Masters, the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship this Australian summer.
The PGA Tour of Australasia’s next tournament will be the NSW Open at Stonecutters Ridge west of Sydney beginning on November 13, the week before the Australian Masters one week later.
Meanwhile, Queensland’s Cameron Smith has continued his fine pro form to finish in a share if fifth at the PGA Tour’s CIMB Championship at the Kuala Lumpur Golf Club.
Smith’s win earned him a cheque for $US266,000 and moves the rookie into the top four on the Asian Tour money list.
Despite his lack of experience, Smith managed to hold some big names at bay, crafting a final round 68 to finish behind only winner Ryan Moore and joint runners-up Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na and Gary Woodland.
His performance has hoisted him up the rankings to the point where he has an open door into the key events in Asia next year.
Moore won the event for the second year in succession after he had shared the 54 hole lead with Na.
He birdied three of his last four holes to win his fourth PGA Tour title, returning to form after an indifferent run of events in recent months.
John Senden finished as the next best of the Australians after Smith when he finished on his own in seventh position after what had been a slow start to the week.
The PGA Tour plays two events this week, the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson Mississippi and, for those eligible, the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai
In Japan, Australian campaigner Brendan Jones produced his second best finish since surgery a year ago when he tied for sixth in the Mynavi ABC Championship near Kobe.
Jones, who held the lead early in the final round, had struggled with his putting before reverting to the short stick and is likely now to stick with the conventional putter ahead of rule changes against belly putters become mandatory at the start of 2016.
Home star Ryuchi Oda won the tournament, his second title on the Japan Tour and his first for five years with an emphatic five shot victory.
The 37-year-old reeled off a brilliant final round of 62 and after being challenged early on day four he drew away picking up five shots in his last five holes to win by a huge margin.
Oda’s only other victory was at the 2009 Japan Open and until this effort had not recorded a top 10 this season.