Tied with Victorian Nathan Page coming down the last hole, Conran, from Orange in New South Wales, hit a brilliant wedge approach to inside a metre and tapped in for a final birdie for a tournament winning 22-under-par total.

It was a closing 7-under 65 for Conran, who’s the son of long-time tour pro Steve Conran and finished second in last year’s PNG Open, while Page’s 67 couldn’t quite get it done in front of his home crowd.

Webex Players Series Perth champion Jordan Doull finished in solo third at 19-under, while a number of players made a charge on the final day to surge into the top five.

In the group of four tied at 18-under, both Andrew Martin and Anthony Quayle made a serious run on day four, Martin managing to card a 7-under 65 even with a triple-bogey on the card.

The 54-hole leader, Lachlan Barker, struggled to keep the momentum rolling on Sunday, eventually signing for a 1-over 73 and a share of 12th place.

Playing in the final group today, Conran made his intentions known early with a birdie on the first hole, the problem was so too did both his playing partners.

This remained a theme for the day, with he and Page trading blows for much of the front nine, Conran’s chip-in for eagle on the par-5 fourth the highlight.

Conran wouldn’t make another birdie until the 18th, but with further eagles at 12 and 15, he suddenly held a two-shot lead with three holes to play.

“After the first hole, we all just put it in the middle of the fairway and all hit it within 10-foot of the hole and all made birdies. I knew those two came to play today. They kept me going,” Conran said.

Moments after rolling in his third eagle of the day, Conran hit a wayward tee-shot on 16, and couldn’t get up and down out of the left greenside trap to save par.

With his lead cut to one, the New South Welshman then failed to find the green on the par-3 17th, and when that par putt slid by, his lead was gone just as quickly as it had come.

With the adrenaline —and likely anger —pumping, Conran piped his drive over the corner of the dog-leg 18th, and with 117 metres left in, almost holed his gap-wedge. When Page’s four-metre birdie chance to force a playoff slid by, Conran was home with the biggest win of his career.

“If you told me that at the start of the week, I would’ve told you you’re lying or crazy,” the 26-year-old said of being the Heritage Classic champion.

“I mean I played really nicely every day and it just worked out well this week.”

Having started a university degree and deciding it wasn’t for him, Conran is relieved to have gained winners’ category Tour status, which helps secure his future for the next few years.

“I started Commerce and Accounting, but it lasted about half a semester,” he said.

“It hasn’t really sunk in to be honest yet, but it’s just nice.

“A bit more stability for the next couple of years. I can actually make a bit of a schedule instead of sort of not knowing when I’m going to play the next tournament.”

Queenslander Elvis Smylie officially wrapped up the Order of Merit today, bouncing back from a lacklustre third round with a 5-under 67 to finish equal 53rd.

The 2004/25 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season finishes with The National Tournament, starting on Thursday.

As soon as the putt dropped, the young Queenslander became a DP World Tour member, and had proved to the world that he could not only rub shoulders with his heroes, but out-do them when it mattered most.

Smylie had proved that to himself a month earlier however, with his breakthrough win at the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open.

Those wins have helped Smylie hold onto a strong lead at the top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit (OOM), however commanding as it may be, last month’s New Zealand Open champion Ryan Peake can still catch him with two events left.

At 1,356.36 points, Smylie is 372 points clear of Peake in second, but with 190 points on offer to the winner of this week’s Heritage Classic, it’s a long shot for Peake.

A strong showing will secure Smylie’s position atop the OOM, and tick off a season-long ambition.

“It was a goal that I set out last October when I started the season,” Smylie said. “It would be really special to be able to achieve that goal this week at The Heritage.

“To be able to say that you’ve won the Australasian Order of Merit, you are the best player throughout a calendar season, not many people have achieved that.

“I think that accolade that comes with the title is incredible, and then everything that comes with it is awesome as well.”

Having already secured his DP World Tour playing rights by way of his win at Royal Queensland, Smylie’s sights are on the other benefits of topping the OOM, including a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Smylie pre-qualified for last year’s championship at Royal Troon, and his missed cut only fuelled his determination further to get back to the sport’s oldest major.

“If Royal Troon taught me anything, it’d be that I want to compete against these guys on a week-to-week basis and I want to play against the best players in the world,” he said.

“I love links golf and I want to test myself against the best, so I’m definitely motivated to get back there.”

Smylie finished middle of the pack at last season’s Heritage Classic, and so has been on the ground since Monday working through familiarising himself with the St John’s layout that he only saw for the first time in 2024.

“I’ve seen both sides of the course now. I played nine yesterday, nine this morning,” Smylie said on Tuesday at The Heritage.

“The course is pretty soft, but the greens can actually get quite speedy, so I think just hitting in the right tiers is really important around here.”

As a Golf Australia Rookie Squad member, Smylie has plans to base himself at the Golf Australia house in London for parts of this year, as he looks to take full advantage of his DP World Tour status around the globe.

“I’m going to China in the middle of April in a couple weeks’ time, and then everything kind of kicks off in Europe around late June onwards. That is when I’ll be basing myself in London.”

The Heritage Classic kicks off Thursday, and the final two rounds over the weekend are live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.