Under new ownership of the Destination Leisure Group, the tournament marked the return of the adidas Pro-Am Series to The Sands Torquay facility for the first time in four years.

Less than a week out from the start of the PGA Tour of Australasia season at the Victorian PGA Championship, the 18-hole shootout attracted a host of former tour winners but it was Lawson who finished on top just down the road from where he completed his PGA traineeship.

Now an established player in Europe, Lawson was cruising with a two-stroke buffer until bogeys at his final two holes kept his total to four-under 68.

Former winner of the NT PGA Championship, Brett Rankin looked to have left his run too late but birdies at the par-4 eighth and a chip-in birdie at the par-5 ninth enabled him to match Lawson’s score and force a playoff.

With the honour, Rankin’s tee shot in the playoff flared to the right, bounced through the long rough and came to rest under a tree.

With Lawson in the centre of the fairway, Rankin played a brilliant recovery to the front edge of the green to keep his hopes of a win alive.

Lawson’s approach shot finished pin high 15 feet from the hole and when Rankin failed to get up and down from the fringe two-putted his way to the win.

Now based on the Gold Coast, Lawson used his return to Torquay to put coach Darrell Brown on the bag as he sets his sights on a breakthrough PGA Tour of Australasia title.

“I ended up playing 28 events in Europe across 19 countries in seven months so it’s been a hell of a ride,” Lawson said of his international schedule in 2021.

“It’s nice to be home and I’ll now play all the Aussie Tour events through till March before I head back to Europe.

“It was good to have my coach (Darrell Brown, PGA Professional from the Geelong Golf Club) on the bag today as we haven’t seen each other for a little while.”

The adidas Pro-Am Series returns to Queensland on Monday for the $30,000 Bartons/BMD Wynnum Pro-Am at Wynnum Golf Club in Brisbane.