A regular visitor to Australia to play the PGA Legends Tour, Parker has returned in good form after a month at home in the US.

He was part of a three-way tie at Springwood last Thursday but his round of 3-under 66 proved good enough at Blackheath Golf Club in the Blue Mountains.

With a host of big events coming up, Parker is thrilled to see the hard work paying off so suddenly.

“I went home for about a month and really worked on some things,” said Parker.

“I changed my driver; I went back to my old driver, my (TaylorMade) SIM driver. Changed putters and I think the practice that I put in is really paying off.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Parker made the best possible start in pursuit of his first win on the PGA Legends Tour in almost a year.

He hit driver, 7-iron to 20 feet at the par-5 first and proceeded to roll the putt in for eagle.

He gave one stroke back with a bogey at the next but birdies at the remaining par 5s – four and 10 – and eight straight pars to finish proved too much for the rest of the field.

West Australian Brendan Chant made eagle at the par-5 10th in his round of 2-under 67 to earn a share of second with Murray Lott, Martin Peterson and Grant Kenny.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“I played really good. I started off with an eagle – driver, 7-iron and made about a 20-footer – and just played really solid.

“Only made one bogey and played the par-5s in 4-under so that was really a key for me. Just parred everything else so it was just a really solid round.

“Totally different golf course than last year. Last year it was under water, this year it was really firm.

“A lot of the shots into the green were very firm, you had to really think about where you were going to land your iron shots in front and let it bounce up.

“I’m very excited to play Thurgoona (NSW Senior Open) and Richmond (Nova Employment Australian PGA Senior Championship) and excited for the rest of the year.

“We’ve got a great schedule so it’s great to be back and I’m looking forward to having some good results.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN

1          Perry Parker                  66

T2        Brendan Chant             67

T2        Grant Kenny                 67

T2        Murray Lott                  67

T2        Martin Peterson           67

Final scores and prizemoney

NEXT UP

PGA TOUR Champions player David McKenzie and former Australian Open champion Stephen Allan are among the big names who will tee it up at the $120,000 NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Country Club Resort starting Friday.