The winner at Port Macquarie three days earlier, Clarke (NSW) shot rounds of 64-65 to beat Victoria’s Kyle Michel (63-68) by two shots.

After going three years without a pro-am victory, the 31-year-old has now won four titles in just over four months – and thrown in a top-20 at the PNG Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

Reigning Webex Players Series South Australia champion Austin Bautista shot the lowest round of day two, an 8-under 64, to take third place, four back of Clarke.

HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED

Clarke went bogey-free across the 36 holes at Hawks Nest.

His day one 64 featured two eagles and four birdies while the closing 65 included five birdies and a repeat eagle on the 450m par-5 second.

A run of three birdies in four holes early in his back nine took him clear of overnight leader Michel who, after shooting a front nine of 31, faltered with bogeys at 12 and 13.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“I’ve been playing good for quite a while so it’s not a shock that I’m starting to post some good scores,” Clarke said.

“I was a little nervous out there today at a few points. Hit a couple of scratchy tee shots but got a bit lucky. Other than that I was really steady and hit a lot of greens, didn’t miss any short putts.

“I can’t thank (PGA Professional) Blake Dowd at Stonecutters enough. He’s been massive for me. He answers my calls and texts at any hour of the night if I’m panicking.

“We found something a little while ago that helped for my back and help to achieve the shots that we want. It just made every super simple and I love it.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN

129: Josh Clarke (NSW) 64-65

131: Kyle Michel (Vic) 63-68

133: Austin Bautista (NSW) 69-64

134: Corey Lamb (NSW) 66-68; Blake Proverbs (Qld) 69-65

135: Jye Pickin (NSW) 65-70; Andrew Kelly (Vic) 68-67

136: Nathan Barbieri (NSW) 71-65

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series heads to the Forster-Tuncurry Pro-Am on Monday followed by the Ocean Shores CUB Pro-Am on Wednesday and McGrath Estate Agents Ballina Pro-Am on Thursday.