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A birdie on the penultimate hole has secured Braden Becker a third victory on the WA swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series, taking out the South West Isuzu South West Open by two strokes.
One of the most popular stops on the Pro-Am circuit at the picturesque Bunbury Golf Club layout, Becker (70) began day two with the lead but endured a roller-coaster final round on his way to victory.
Two early birdies extended his lead over Simon Hawkes (71) to three shots through four holes of the second round but a lost ball from the tee at six resulted in a double-bogey and a one-shot margin.
The WA Open champion and winner at Cottesloe and Capel responded immediately with a birdie at the par-5 seventh and then made a miraculous birdie from under a tree on nine to make the turn at nine-under par and three shots clear.
A further birdie on the short par-3 10th saw Becker’s lead blow out to four shots but again there would be a twist in the tale.
A recent winner of the Air Adventure King Island Pro-Am, Hawkes had been patient with 13 straight pars to start his second round before applying some timely pressure.
As Becker dropped a shot at 13 Hawkes clawed another one back with his first birdie of the day at the par-4 14th.
A second birdie and Becker’s bogey at 15 resulted in a two-shot swing and suddenly a tie at the top of the leaderboard.
An untimely bogey from Hawkes at the par-3 16th gave Becker the lead once again and when Becker followed with a birdie on the 17th, a closing par was all that was required to finish two shots clear of Hawkes at nine-under par.
Victorian Andrew Kelly (70) took solo third at six-under par with New South Welshman Alex Edge continuing his solid form to finish fourth at five-under.
The medal for low amateur was a tie with Kathryn Norris and Simon Liddell both finishing fifth at three-under for the tournament alongside WA’s Haydn Barron and Joseph Ha, Norris tying the women’s course record with a second round of five-under 67.
When both amateur players couldn’t be separated after two playoff holes, failing light halted proceedings and dual winners were crowned.
This concludes the south-west swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series in WA, with players heading to Geraldton next week for the time-honoured Spalding Park Open.
Click here for final scores and prize money.
