As the 2024 PGA Legends Tour draws to a close with its final Sunshine Coast swing, Wade went bogey-free in a round of 6-under 66, three clear of Roland Baglin (69) with six players sharing third at 2-under.

Wade’s most recent Legends Tour win dates back all the way to September 2023 at Magenta Shores Golf and Country Club, a cooperative putter finally bringing Wade some joy.

“The form’s been pretty ordinary,” confessed Wade, who also received the Glenn Joyner Memorial Jug for his win.

“The putter helped me out a lot today. I haven’t been holing any putts, let alone hitting the ball badly, but today I managed to keep the round going with some good par saves. Made a few birdies and kept a nice clean card for a change.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Signs were good early for Wade that a change of fortune may have been imminent.

After a regulation par at the first, the 56-year-old peeled off three straight birdies from the par-5 second.

A birdie at the par-5 eighth saw Wade turn in 4-under, further birdies at 11 and 17 – and none of the big numbers that have plagued him in recent weeks – saw him post a number in the morning that proved unassailable for the afternoon wave.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“I hadn’t been here for a few years and last time I was here it was firm and fast. I thought the greens were amazingly firm today, even after all the rain last night,” said Wade.

“They’ve done some good work with the bunkering off the tee around that 230, 240 mark, so you need to keep it out of those, hit a lot of greens and just keep the damage to a minimum, which I haven’t been doing lately.

“I’ve just been having way too many big numbers, so I’m really, really pleased.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          John Wade                   66
2          Roland Baglin               69
T3        Matthew King              70
T3        David Hill                     70
T3        Guy Wall                      70
T3        Russell Swanson          70
T3        Mark Boulton               70
T3        Michael Craig               70

NEXT UP

The penultimate event of the season is the ever popular Sunshine Coast Masters at Twin Waters Golf Club starting Thursday with the season finale, the Queensland Senior PGA Championship, to follow at Maroochy River Golf Club from Monday.