A star-studded field plundered birdies and eagles on day one of the $50,000 event, one of the most popular on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series schedule.

Pickin shot 5-under 67 in Round 1 yet trailed by four, a deficit he would rein in late in Friday’s second round.

Forced to keep the foot down for the entire round, Pickin made birdie at each of his final two holes to match Andrew Kelly’s 2019 course record of 10-under 62 for a 15-under total, one clear of Jay Mackenzie (67) with Border Open champion Kyle Michel third (66) at 13-under.

It marks Pickin’s second win since turning professional in May and provides a timely confidence boost ahead of the continuation of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season next month in Western Australia.

“Seeing the kind of guys that were out here this week, I knew I had to play well. You had to come out here and play well and the fact that I did is a huge confidence boost for me,” said Pickin, who also shot 62 to win the Northbridge Pro-Am in July.

“To go out there against the star-studded field like we had the last couple of days was awesome. And to shoot a score like that today was awesome.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Trailing overnight leaders Jay Mackenzie and Corey Lamb by four strokes, Pickin made a steady start that gathered momentum as the round went on.

He began with a birdie at the par-4 eighth and continued to chip away at the deficit.

Pickin picked up shots at 11, 13, 15 and 17 but it was the final flurry that got him ultimately to the top of the leaderboard.

Starting with a two at the par-3 second, the 24-year-old snared five birdies in his final six holes to match Kelly’s mark of five years prior and earn the biggest win of his young career.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“All day I had that chasing mindset of being behind; I must like playing in that position,” said Pickin.

“You didn’t have to not only get off to a good start, but you had to finish strong as well.

“The pin on 17 was sort of middle right and a perfect number for me.

“Nine-iron was about 147 back into a little wind so I knew I could be confident and hit a strong shot.

“Just drew off the pin a little bit to 15 foot left of it, which was an ideal shot in my mind at the time.

“There was actually a member that was a few feet behind me on a similar line and I got a good read off his to roll that one in and follow that one in on the last was awesome.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Jye Pickin         67-62—129
2          Jay Mackenzie  63-67—130
3          Kyle Michel       65-66—131
T4        James Conran  64-69—133
T4        Toby Walker     65-68—133
T4        Larry Austin     67-66—133
T7        Corey Lamb     63-71—134
T7        Emma Ash       69-65—134

NEXT UP

The next event in the New South Wales Open regional qualifying series tees off on Tuesday at Wollongong Golf Club to be followed by the South Coast Open at Catalina Country Club starting Saturday, September 21.