The leader after rounds two and three, Geary would never have thought a closing 6-over-par 78 to finish on 13-under-par would be good enough. But it was, by four strokes over West Australian Connor McKinney.

Only three men shot under-par rounds on Sunday – two-under-par 70s from McKinney, New Zealand’s Kerry Mountcastle, who took equal third, and local favourite Ben Eccles, who soared to a share of ninth.

Former Vic Open champion Michael Hendry (74) and NSW’s Austin Bautista (79) also had a share of third.

The afternoon of unyielding, buffeting winds from the Southern Ocean blew the scoring average for Sunday to 76.5 shots.

“It’s the hardest round of golf I’ve had to play,” the new champion said.

“It’s hard enough trying to close out a tournament, let alone in those conditions which meant literally you can make any score from anywhere.

“If you’d asked me if I shot 78 tomorrow if I’d still have a four-shot margin, I’d tell you you’re dreaming, but that’s just how hard it was.

“I’m super happy, obviously, and stoked to get it done.”

It was always going to be extremely difficult for Geary to match his near-faultless first 54 holes, a double-bogey on his final hole of the Creek Course on Friday were his only dropped shots in rounds of 64-65-68.

He bogeyed the first hole on Sunday but was impressively under par for the day after back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth.

It was at the par-four eighth, playing as the toughest hole of the day at almost a shot over par, where Geary’s round threatened to unravel – a penalty drop after a wayward approach shot into the greenside bush and three putts leading to a triple-bogey.

But a bounce-back birdie on No.9 ensured he would take a five-shot lead into the final nine holes of the tournament.

As his potential challengers fell away, the 2013 WA Open champion only had to avoid a catastrophe. Five bogeys on the way to the clubhouse didn’t create too many concerns.

“Even when you got downwind, you couldn’t hold the greens. You’d have a sand wedge and 180 metres and it’s going through the back of the green,” Geary said.

“I was just trying to keep it out of the real trouble.”

McKinney’s 70 allowed him to climb from a tie for 23rd overnight to second place, his best finish on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, just surpassing his tie for second at the 2023 WA Open.

The Scottish-born West Australian turned in 3-under 33 and finished his round with a total of four birdies.

Defending champion Brett Coletta (Vic) closed with a 72 to end in a share of 18th place.

The next Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia tournament is Webex Players Series Sydney, starting on Thursday, February 20.