Leading by two thanks to a bogey-free 5-under 66 on day one at Bargara Golf Course near Bundaberg, Stolz fought through a challenging front nine as the likes of Nigel Lane and Brad Burns narrowed the gap.

Stolz turned in 2-over but found a spark with a birdie on 10, adding two more on the back nine for a 1-under 70 and 6-under total.

“I felt like I played OK the front but just struggled a little bit,” Stolz conceded.

“The birdie on 10 was timely. I was just trying to hang in there so to birdie 10 straight up for the back nine, that put me in a good frame of mind.

“Bit of a contracting two days. Yesterday I played fantastic and could have had a really, really, really, really good score and today I hit it all right but it was just hard work.”

Burns’ 4-under 67 in Round 2 was the day’s best by three strokes, enough for the former Order of Merit winner to snare outright second.

Lane (70) was third at 3-under followed by Chris Hollingsworth (71) and Euan Walters (71) at 1-under.

On the back of victories at Yeppoon and Town of 1770, the wins are not only timely confidence-boosters for Stolz ahead of the Staysure Senior PGA Championship in Scotland next month but a nice addition to the bank account.

“Getting all the cash from these last few weeks will go pretty quick over in the UK,” Stolz joked.

“I’ve been working pretty hard at it lately to get ready for that trip.

“It was great to have these events and get used to having a scorecard in the pocket again rather than just going through the motions.”

The SParms PGA Legends Tour continues to head south ahead of the Urangan Smash Repairs Fraser Coast Classic at Hervey Bay Golf and Country Club this weekend.

Final scores and prizemoney