Cameron John has defeated Michael Choi in a playoff to win the 62nd Border Open on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

A stiff southerly breeze prevailed for the entire day at cluBarham for the 62^nd Border Open, overnight leaders Michael Choi and Carl Smedley teed off the 1^st in the last group of the day.

Smedley opened his round with a bogey but he hit back with a birdie on the 2^nd.  A further birdie on the 8^th and a follow up par on the 9^th saw him make the turn at 1-under.

Smedley then birdied the 12^th but bogey’s on the 13^th and 15^th saw him close out his round with an even-par 72 to finish in 6^th.

Choi got going early with birdies on the 2^nd and 5^th.  A minor slip up followed with a bogey on the 6^th before a tap-in birdie on the 7^th to make the turn at 10-under and in the outright lead.

He extended the margin after birdies on the 11^th and 12^th and 14^th to take him to 13-under and looking like the winner, disaster struck with a double bogey on the new par-3 15^th.

Choi got one back with a tap-in birdie on the 16^th.

After Choi’s birdie putt on the 17^th fell just short he was only requiring a par on the par-3 18^th to take the win at 12-under.

Choi’s tee shot found the righthand bunker and when he left the first attempt in there he could only manage a bogey 4 to finish at 11-under.

Cameron John began his day from the 10^th tee and one shot behind the leaders. He missed short birdie putts on both the 10^th and 11^th and must of thought it wasn’t his day. He finally got one to drop and drew level with the leaders at 8-under.

He gave it back on the 13^th and another bogey on the 15^th saw John struggle to keep pace.

He then birdied the 16^th and 17^th to make the turn at 1-under for the day and 8-under for the tournament.

With four straight pars it looked like time was running out for John, he then birdied the 5^th and 7^th and when a sensational up and down on the 8^th resulted in another birdie John had made it to 11-under with one hole to go.

John’s drive on the short par-4 9^th went a long way left, almost onto the driving range.  A classy wedge shot to eight feet left him with a chance to take the outright win after Choi’s bogey.

John’s putt burned the edge and the resulting par saw him finish tied at 11-under meaning a playoff would ensue.

“Yeah my tee shot on the 9^th was so far right I actually found a small piece of grass beside the chipping green,” said John

“I made a really great chip and just let the putt slide past.”

John drew first for the playoff and again pulled his tee shot left on the first playoff hole, the 9^th.

Choi layed up with an iron but found the right-hand rough, his approach finished long and left and it was now up to John to push the issue.

John’s wedge approach this time ran right past the hole, and he had the exact opposite putt to the one he missed in regulation play.

Choi’s chip checked up and left him with around 6 feet for par.

John, putting first missed on the lower left-hand side but tapped in for par, forcing Choi to make his putt to extend the playoff.

When Cho’s putt slide passed, John was declared the winner.

This is the second win for Cameron John on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

“When I got to the tee I just thought I’d pull driver again and go for it. There was still plenty of room left and I found most of it again,” added John.

“This is m first year out and it’s been great.  Everyone has been really friendly and I learned a stack early in the year.

“My form has been pretty good after the WA PGA in May I was top-5 and then some good pro-am results and a solid finish in the NT PGA last month.”

Peter Wilson rode the roller coaster all day. He began off the 18^th and recorded three straight pars before disaster struck with a double 5 on the par-3 3^rd.

Wilson eagled the 7^th and followed it with birdies on the  8^th and 9^th make the turn at 2-under but then made bogey on the 10^th and his round looked to have stalled.

He managed to birdie the 11^th, 14^th, 16^th and 17^th to finish with a round of 5-under 68 and 10-under for the Tournament in 3^rd place.

Jack Wilson was the next to appear from the pack. Beginning his round on 4-under and from the 12^th hole he opened with a birdie and followed it with two more on the 14^th and 16^th to be at 7-under for the tournament.

Wilson then got going with birdies on the 2^nd, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th to move to 11-under. He made a bogey 5 on the par-4 8^th, however, he did hit back with a birdie on the 9^th.

His tee shot flew long on the par-3 10^th and when he failed to make an up and down the resulting bogey meant he was on 10-under and in need of something special on his last hole the 11^th.

When he could only manage a 4 he remained tied with Peter Wilson for 3^rd place.

The round of the day went to young Yarrawonga Trainee Frazer Droop who signed for a flawless 9-under 64.  His bogey-free round included seven birdies and one eagle and saw him finish in outright 5^th.