Just 35 minutes from the Golf King Superstore that he operates in Mackay, Johnson treated a rare pro-am appearance like a Sunday members comp with his mates.

It proved to be a prudent approach as his score of 7-under 65 matched Lexus Townsville Classic winner John Lyras and Mackay Pro-Am champion Brett Rankin for a winning total.

The trio finished one stroke clear of in-form players James Mee (66) and Darcy Boyd (66) along with Ben Henkel (66), five players finishing in a tie for seventh at 5-under par.

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Coming in hot after his dominant win at Mackay, Rankin began his round at Pioneer Valley Golf Club with two early birdies at 16 and 17.

He added three further birdies on the front nine but after a bogey on 12 needed a birdie on his final hole, the par-5 15th, to post 7-under.

Lyras found himself 1-over after an opening bogey on 10 but got it back at the next hole and then collated three further birdies before heading to the front nine where the birdie blitz continued.

He had five birdies and a bogey on the par-4 fifth to finish his round at 7-under.

Johnson began his round at the 12th hole and was 3-under through four after a birdie on 13 and eagle at 15.

The two-time Mackay Open winner kept bogeys off the card as the scoring somewhat stalled but finished in a flurry, making birdies at six, seven, eight and 11 for a 7-under total.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“Obviously made a nice putt for eagle on the sixth from 30-odd feet, but didn’t really get into too much trouble, which was surprising,” said Johnson.

“I’ve got a wife, kids, mortgage, generally weekends involve basketball and tennis. Nothing’s about me anymore so it’s good to for a change to play on the weekend.

“I was lucky enough to play with three of my buddies today, so it was just basically a normal Saturday. We were playing for drinks at the end like we do every week. I was more worried about not losing money to them rather than winning the event.

“Happy to hole a few putts and be in the winner’s circle again. It doesn’t happen too often, but yeah, it was good.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1        John Lyras                    65
T1        Anthony Johnson         65
T1        Brett Rankin                 65
T4        Darcy Boyd                  66
T4        Ben Henkel                  66
T4        James Mee                   66
T7        Harvey Young              67
T7        Tyler Duncan                67
T7        Jye Pickin                     67
T7        Brendan Smith 67
T7        Aaron Townsend          67

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series now moves into the annual Onsite Rental Group Mining Towns Series, starting on Tuesday with the two-day IMS Moranbah Pro-Am.