Ryan Laird from Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club in Victoria was crowned the 2015 PGA National Futures Champion this afternoon in a dramatic finish.

Laird held form during a 4 hole, sudden death, 3-way playoff that included Englishman Jack Harrison and fellow Victorian Deyen Lawson.

Lawson, the overnight leader, looked promising to bring home the trophy early in the day when he was 7-under par thru seven.  Yet a string of bogeys in the later stages of his round saw his four shot lead quickly diminish.

Laird had a shaky front nine but returned home strongly to finish tied for the lead. Harrison, delivered a solid round to maintain his position to finish in the mix for the three-way playoff.

In the first playoff hole Lawson was best positioned to take the title but missed an 8ft birdie putt, all players proceeded to make par. On their second venture down the 18th all players had realist birdie opportunities however none eventuated and Lawson bogeyed the hole dropping him out the playoff and contention for the title.

With the pressure mounting on both Trainee Professionals, the value of an effective short game was bound to prevail. With Laird missing the green with his approach shot and Harrison having a makeable 25ft putt for birdie from the fringe, it appeared as though Harrison had the upper hand to take the title home to Great Britain. However, from a difficult position Laird pitched his shot to within 10ft of the hole to keep him in the hunt for the win.

When Harrison missed his birdie opportunity and left himself a 3ft par putt, Harrison still appeared to be in control, but against the odds Laird calmly rolled his 10ft par putt in to shift immense pressure back on Harrison.

To the shock of the spectators around the green, the reigning Trainee Champion of Great Britain and Ireland missed his par putt to hand Laird over $10,000 prize money and an invitation to the 2016 Australian PGA Championship.

In his victory speech Ryan Laird thanked the Ballarat Golf Club, its members, the wider community and sponsors, including Titleist Foot-Joy and Ballarat Regional Tourism.