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Swing changes with coach Chris Gibson enabled Lucas Higgins to navigate strong winds and blow the rest of the field away to take out The Lion Richlands McLeod Pro-Am at McLeod Country Golf Club.
Eleven players finished within one stroke of each other in challenging conditions on Tuesday but no one got within three strokes of Higgins, who shot 6-under 65 to claim his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series win of the year.
Boasting six top-six finishes since the start of August, Higgins was thrilled to finally get across the line.
“I was really struggling with my swing maybe a few months ago and we just really tried to make it simple,” said Higgins.
“Just trying to really enjoy my golf again and not put too much pressure on myself.
“Go back to hitting fades, hitting it a lot better and giving myself a lot more looks.”
Veteran Steven Jeffress joined Sam Slater, Brett Rankin and Jake McLeod in a share of second with rounds of 3-under 68, one clear of Scott Barr, Dillon Hart, Riley Taylor, Zach Maxwell, Peter Martin, James Mee and Alex Simpson.
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
With two birdies and two eagles in his first nine holes, Higgins wasted no time in climbing to the top of the leaderboard.
His first birdie came at the par-4 fourth and then Higgins converted an eagle opportunity at the par-5 seventh.
He added a birdie at the par-5 ninth and then made it two eagles in the space of four holes at the par-5 10th to reach 6-under par as others struggled to make inroads.
Higgins’ lone dropped shot came at the par-4 13th but got back to 6-under with birdie at the short par-3 18th.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I hadn’t played here in a while, so I was just trying to figure out where I was going,” said Higgins.
“I hit it really, really solid in the wind and just gave myself a lot of good looks.
“Took advantage of a couple of the par 5s downwind and holed a couple of nice putts which got me the win.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Lucas Higgins 65
T2 Steven Jeffress 68
T2 Samuel Slater 68
T2 Brett Rankin 68
T2 Jake McLeod 68
NEXT UP
Either end of the New South Wales border hosts adidas PGA Pro-Am Series events on Thursday with Marcus Fraser and Matthew Griffin headlining the Cohuna Golf Club Stuart Appleby Pro-Am as Higgins returns to his home course for the Coca-Cola Murwillumbah Pro-Am.
