Entering the final day with a two shot lead over Norris, and five stroke advantage of a pack including Goggin at 7-under, Stolz did his best to fulfil his stated mission to wife Katrina to “make it boring” on Sunday.

A couple of back nine hiccups overcome to lift the trophy for the second time after Stolz triumphed in 2020.

“I think obviously these last two weeks are our biggest two events of the year. I know I’ve won a lot of events on this Tour, and I’ve won the Order of Merit the last three years and leading again this year, and winning all those events is great, but these are the ones that we all want,” Stolz, who finished at 17-under, said.

“It’s like people talk about majors for the young guys and all that sort of stuff, but these are our biggest two events. So absolutely these are the two to win. And being the senior PGA champion is pretty special.”

Stolz continued the same formula of impressive chipping and putting that had been a feature all week at Richmond Golf Club during a front nine of 31 as Norris did his best to ruin the boring plan.

Birdieing four of six holes from the third, Stolz looked to be getting in the ideal preparation for PGA TOUR Champions qualifying school next month before back-to-back bogeys at the 12^th and 13^th.

Hooking both tee shots at the two par-4s, Stolz could feel the pressure of the reigning champ gaining momentum as Norris emerged as the most likely challenger with birdie at the 14^th after turning in 1-under-par.

Stolz finding his putting touch again at the right time when the Queenslander followed Norris in for a birdie of his own at the par-3, before he pulled away with eagle at the par-5 15^th following a “drop kick” second shot to within 15 feet.

“I like this golf course,” was Stolz simple assessment of a course he helped adjust the layout of ahead of this year’s event.

“I know it’s super demanding and you’ve got to drive the ball great, and if you do, you can make a ton of birdies.

“I’ve been telling everybody I talk to about it, just got to drive it well and you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to make some birdies.”

Noting how difficult it is “to match eagles”, Norris birdied the par-5 15^th before a three putt at the short par-4 16^th against Stolz’s par ensured the 2020 winner a more comfortable closing stretch. Goggin’s eagle-birdie-birdie run starting at the 15^th a little too late for the Tasmanian to mount a challenge.

Stolz dropped another shot at the par-3 17^th after arguably his worst chip of the week, but he finished things in style with a clinical birdie at the 54^th hole.

The victory and pay cheque a helpful cash injection as Stolz prepares to head stateside to try and join the large contingent of Australians on world’s premier over-50s Tour.

“It’s just really good timing,” Stolz said.

“Obviously this time of the year is pretty much peak season for us. It’s a big expense to blow for a week, but we, we’ll go and roll the dice.”

Joining Stolz in Phoenix in the hope of securing playing rights will be Goggin, who will no doubt leave his tournament debut with plenty of positives after sharing runner-up honours with Norris.

Last week’s NSW Senior Open winner David McKenzie continuing his good form with a solo fourth on 11-under, with Peter Lonard a shot further back as the PGA Legends Tour prepares for a lucrative run of event in Sydney this week before Stolz potentially tees it up at the BMW Australian PGA Championship thanks to his win this week.

“I hadn’t really even looked at the schedule. I basically just had been in the zone all this week,” he said of potentially heading to Royal Queensland.