Co-leader with William Bruyeres and Aaron Pike at the start of Round 3, Hawkes held his nerve and holed a number of crucial par putts to shoot 3-under 69 and finish one stroke clear of Victorian Connor McDade (67) with Caleb Bovalina two strokes further back in third.

In adding to his 2016 win, Hawkes becomes the first two-time Tasmanian winner of the Tasmanian Open since the legendary Peter Toogood won his eighth way back in 1959.

As the gusty wind and pacey putting surfaces put plenty of players under pressure, Hawkes refused to falter until the very last hole of the tournament.

A closing bogey did little to diffuse his satisfaction as he added to his 2016 Tasmanian Open and WA Open and Vic Open wins.

“It’s always a bit of extra nerves,” Hawkes said.

“With the other two state opens, I don’t think I was as nervous as the two I’ve won here.

“It’s a lot bigger to win your home Open; it’s amazing.

“You always come to this event with the goal of winning and to be able to pull it off is amazing.”

It was a rare Tasmanian double on Sunday as Royal Hobart Golf Club’s Mackenzie Thomas (81) held on for a two-stroke win in the Women’s Tasmania Open and South Australian George Vassiliadis completed a convincing win in the Tasmania Inclusive Championship.

Turning point

It was as the lead group approached the turn that Hawkes was able to separate himself from both Pike and Bruyeres.

Two-under on his round through six holes, Hawkes had a one-stroke advantage from Pike and was two clear of Bruyeres.

Pars at the next three holes would put Hawkes on the path to victory as Bruyeres and Pike both lost ground.

Pike made bogeys at both seven and nine to go out in 1-over while Bruyeres followed a bogey on eight with a double-bogey at the par-4 ninth, dropping five shots back of Hawkes.

While Bruyeres would make a late charge with three birdies in his final four holes, Hawkes’ near faultless display gave him enough of a buffer to absorb a closing bogey and hold on for the win.

Quick quotes

“Looking at the forecast this morning, I knew it was going to be a day that you had to really dig deep and focus hard,” said Hawkes.

“That’s sort of the achievement I made today. It was a process goal that was achieved to have the outcome goal, which was winning the tournament.

“With the exception of the blemish up the last, I was bogey free, which at that point I was really proud of.

“My processes were really good today and that’s what helped me get over line the.”

Final scores
1          Simon Hawkes             66-72-69—207
2          Connor McDade          69-72-67—208
3          Caleb Bovalina             70-69-71—210
4          William Bruyeres          70-68-73—211
T5        Mark Panopoulos        73-70-69—212
T5        Aaron Pike                   65-73-74—212