Millar sizzled around the Teven Valley layout in an incredible 7-under par 51 to finish at 8-under-par from fast-finishing Queenslander Gavin Fairfax (-6). Jack McLeod (NSW) and William Bruyeres (QLD) finished in a tie for third at 5-under.

In a sign of how competitive play was at Teven, nine players tied for fourth at 4-under. The group included Blake Proverbs, Tim Hart, James Mee, Max Ford (a), Jayden Cripps, Nathan Barbieri, Austin Bautista, Andrew Evans and Jay Mackenzie.

Overnight leaders Daniel Gale and Aaron Townsend were in the mix for most of the day. However, both stumbled and never recovered, Townsend with a horror stretch of five holes where he dropped four shots midway through his round. After turning for home in the lead at 7-under, Gale couldn’t get going on the back nine, dropping four shots to finish at minus three.

Millar, though, was sublime. Starting on the fifth, he rolled in birdies on the seventh and 10th to get to 3-under. The fireworks started when the Canberran peeled off five straight birdies from the 14th to the 18th to grab a share of the lead for the first time.

It looked like Millar was set to steamroll the field from there. But, he almost saw it disappear with a near disaster at the par-four second (his 15th): a double-bogey out of nowhere.

It was his only mistake, and in a true sign of his professionalism, Millar immediately birdied his next two holes to erase the snafu just as quickly as he made it.

“It was a misjudgment from me. I hit that club the last two days and got nowhere near the water, but I can’t be too upset,” he said.

“I gave myself a bit of an uppercut on the next tee and made a birdie, then made another at the short par-4 (fourth)

“I think I shot 21 on the nine par-3s today; I played really well and was thrilled with the way I bounced back,” Miller said post-round.

The win was the record fourth NSW Regional Open/Regional Qualifying tournament since the series’ inception in 2021. 

Miller admitted that he could not have imagined that he would walk away with two wins from three starts this week, especially following his recent back surgery.

“If I’m honest, no way.

“Did I think the courses suited me? Of course. But with the quality of the field and the amount of tournament golf I have played, I would’ve been over the moon if I had won one. But two? It feels amazing.”

Locking up the Regional Qualifying Positions were Gavin Fairfax, Jack McLeod and William Bruyeres.

It will be a first NSW Open after a well-credentialed amateur career in Sydney circles for McLeod.

LEADERBOARD

-8: Matt Millar (ACT) 57-51

-6: Gavin Fairfax (Qld) 57-53

-5: Jack McLeod (NSW) 56-55; William Bruyeres (QL) 56-55

NEXT UP

The next event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is The Powers Lager Kooralbyn Valley Pro-Am on Tuesday following the Queensland PGA Foursomes Championship at the same venue on Tuesday.

The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season gets underway with the PNG Open, starting on Thursday