A four-stroke leader at the start of the second and final round on Sunday, Rankin eagled the par-5 first for the second time to tighten his stranglehold on the title.

But with Deyen Lawson plundering birdies early in his round and Rankin suffering a double-bogey setback at the par-4 seventh, it suddenly got tight at the top.

Starting from the 14th hole, Lawson was six-under through nine holes to reduce the margin to just two strokes before Rankin steadied.

He birdied the 13th, 14th and 16th holes and – with one eye on the live leaderboard on his phone – cruised to the clubhouse for a round of three-under 69 and a four-stroke win.

“I started with an eagle down the first and I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” reflected Rankin, pictured with Ray White Yamba sponsor Daniel Kelly and Head Professional Jamie Corkill.

“Unfortunately, I made a double bogey down the seventh hole and some guys caught up with their fine playing.

“It was great to use the live scoring leaderboard to my advantage and knuckle down to stay on top.”

Lawson’s equal best round of the day – six-under 66 – earned him a share of second alongside David Bransdon (69) at eight-under par.

Lucas Higgins had five birdies and an eagle to match Lawson’s round of 66 to finish in a tie for third with Michael Wright at seven-under par.

The next event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series schedule is the three-day Signature Golf Tours Gold Coast Challenge at RACV Royal Pines starting Monday.