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Matt Millar has closed the gap in the race for the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series Order of Merit after a three-stroke win at the Traralgon Latrobe City WIN Network Pro-Am Classic.
Winner at Traralgon Golf Club in 2019, Millar began the day tied with Tim Hart at the top of the leaderboard at eight-under par.
The Canberra veteran was three in front following a birdie at one and Hart’s two bogeys to start his second round although the Brisbane native would bounce back with four straight birdies from the fourth hole.
Hart’s challenge would fall away dramatically on the back nine as Millar maintained his aspiration to complete a mistake-free round.
A lone bogey at the par-4 11th would prevent him from achieving his goal of reaching 14-under but his five-under 67 and 13-under total was more than enough to finish three ahead of Simon Hawkes (69) and Andrew Kelly (68).
“I’ve had a great couple of days. Yesterday I didn’t do much wrong and today was pretty similar,” said Millar, who is now breathing down the neck of Hart on the Order of Merit.
“There was a little patch early in the back nine – holes 11 and 12 – where I was a little bit out of position. But outside of that I played really well and absolutely thrilled to win.”
Wary of not falling into the trap of engaging in a match play scenario in the final group, Millar called upon his vast experience of pro-am success to clinch the first place prize money of $5,388.
“Because of this golf course and the condition it’s in, it’s very scorable,” added Millar, who will play TPS Victoria, TPS Murray River and the Vic Open on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia in the weeks to come.
“I had a goal of getting to 14-under. I thought if I got to 14, I still could lose, but you’d be pretty stiff.
“I figured if I could get to 14 I’d give myself a good chance. There is that chance around this golf course that people can come at you but I thought if I could keep playing the way I’ve been playing, keep it fairly mistake-free I’d be a good chance of getting to 14.
“Unfortunately, I came up one short, but it was still plenty anyway.”
Staying in the Gippsland region of Victoria, the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series now moves on to Bairnsdale for The Big Garage Bairnsdale Golf Club Pro-Am at Bairnsdale Golf Club on Saturday.
Click here for final scores and prize money.
