The first staging of the David Mercer Senior Classic since 2019, it also marked the first time the tournament had been held since Mercer’s passing in September 2020 at age 89.

As such, luminaries including PGA of Australia Life Members Rodger Davis, Ian Baker-Finch and Peter O’Malley were all in attendance, Mercer a highly influential figure throughout the entirety of Davis’s career.

Both Norris and Henwood (pictured with Mercer’s son, fellow PGA Professional Richard Mercer) have recorded recent wins on the SParms PGA Legends Tour and rediscovered that winning form at Killara.

They shared top spot with rounds of seven-under 65 to finish three strokes clear at the Killara layout that is flourishing following the strategic makeover overseen by course architect Harley Kruse.

Henwood spent time following Wednesday’s event at Shelly Beach fine-tuning his driver, work that paid dividends a day later.

His bogey-free round included a stretch of three holes in which he went four-under, setting the seven-under target for the rest of the field.

“I did a bit of work in the nets with my driver after the round at Shelly Beach on Wednesday and something clicked which saw me hit it great of the tee today,” Henwood said.

Norris knew the target he was set when he teed off in the afternoon but left it late to match Henwood’s tally.

Six-under par with two holes to play, Norris played a miraculous shot to set up eagle and held the outright lead through 17 holes.

 “I had a gap through the trees and hit a 3-wood into 15 feet,” Norris said after missing the fairway left on the par 5.

“It was in the top three shots I’ve hit in my career.”

Unfortunately for Norris he would go on to bogey his final hole to tie Henwood for the win at seven-under.

Capping off a memorable return to the schedule for the David Mercer Senior Classic, host Professional Greg Hohnen was presented with the David Mercer Award, an annual award given for service to the game via the SParms PGA Legends Tour.

Click here for final scores and prize money.