Scotland’s David Law hit a career-defining hybrid shot for an eagle to win the ISPS HANDA Vic Open at 13th Beach today, while France’s Celine Boutier held firm to take her first LPGA Tour victory.

Law’s eagle at the 72nd hole, with a brilliant three hybrid shot from 195 metres followed by a putt from just shy of three metres that rattled in the left edge, brought huge roars from the big crowd around the 18th green.

It took him from 16-under par to 18-under par and at the same time, overnight leader Wade Ormsby of Australia was self-destructing with a double bogey five from behind the green at the par-three 17th hole.

By the time Law signed for his 66 (with a back nine 31) and Ormsby imploded, the Australian needed an eagle at the last to force a playoff.

He hit his second shot to the fringe and from eight metres, his putt to extend an absorbing contest leaked low and right and Law was a first-time winner on the European Tour, having spent five years trying to earn his ticket playing away on the Challenge Tour.

The 27-year-old from Aberdeen admitted it was the greatest single shot of his career.

"It was the right shot to play at the time. Under that pressure and under that situation, needing to pull it off, it’s something I’m so proud of."

Law at 18-under par won the men’s section by a shot from Ormbsy and Brad Kennedy of Australia, who also had a share of the lead until he bogeyed the 17th today on his way to a 67.

In the women’s section, Boutier only needed to card an even-par 72 having started two shots from the lead, owing to the fade-out of overnight leader Kim Kaufman of the USA.

Kaufman had an awful day; she double bogeyed the fifth hole from a tree behind the green and never recovered, shooting a 78 that left her tied-eighth.

Meanwhile Boutier, 25, from Paris, kept her nerve and then put the hammer down with a 10-metre birdie putt on the par-four 15th hole that gave her a two-shot lead that she would not surrender.

Previously she had logged only one top-10 in the LPGA although she was the world’s No. 1 amateur a few years ago.

At one point Australian Sarah Kemp, who started out early and shot a 65 to post six-under overall, looked like she might have a chance. But Boutier’s birdie at the 15th left her only needing to par in to win.

Kemp, fellow-Australian Su Oh and England’s Charlotte Thomas finished tied-second at six-under par.

David Law has won the ISPS HANDA Vic Open at 13^th Beach Golf Links.

With rounds of 67, 66, 71 and 66 for a tournament total 18-under 270, Law won the title by one shot from Brad Kennedy.

It was tightly contested title with Law, Wade Ormsby and Brad Kennedy battling it out across the back-9 to the delight of strong crowds.

A come from behind effort from Law with a birdie on the 16^th and an incredible eagle on the 18^th saw him equal the top score at the completion of his round.

A double bogey from Ormsby on the 17^th put Law into the lead where he stayed to be crowned champion.

Having graduated to the European Tour via the Challenge Tour, Law has recorded his first win on the main Tour after just four starts in his rookie season.

For his win, Law will secure full status on the European Tour until the end of the 2020 season.

Matthew Stieger has defied wild, wet and windy conditions at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open to record seven birdies and elevate his tournament total to 13-under.

Finishing his third round at 7-under the card, Stieger played in heavy rain before strong winds took over and still remained bogey-free.

“We got hammered with the rain for about three or four holes there, so it was really good to get through that stretch, but no bogeys today, which is really nice,” said Stieger.

“I just stuck to my game plan out there.

“I sort of had to hit away from a few flags because they were tucked a little bit, but made really good use of the ones that I could go at.

“Coming from St. Michael’s, I played a lot of golf in the wind so I actually love these types of conditions.”

Stieger hopes smart play and further results may help him resolve some unfinished business at 13^th Beach Golf Links.

“I’ve got some redemption to do; in 2014 I got beaten in a playoff here, so I will sort of hopefully try to get into a position like that again and see how we go.

“I’m just hoping another day like today tomorrow would be great,” Stieger continued, who produced his best round for the tournament on day three.

England’s Callum Shinkwin has fired 6-under the card for a total of 13-under, allowing him to join the front-runners at the top of the scoreboard.

Shooting his best score for the tournament, South Africa’s Justin Harding also produced a round of 6-under 66 in unfavourable conditions.

Overnight leaders Jason Scrivener and Nick Flanagan start their third round at 14-under the card, one shot ahead of South Australian Wade Ormsby.

Click here to follow the lives scores from the #VicOpen.

South Australian Wade Ormsby has finished the third round of the ISPS HANDA Vic Open at the top of the leader board at 15-under the card despite turbulent afternoon conditions.

Intermittent wind and rain showered the final groups; however it was Ormsby who was able to maintain his composure to finish on 2-under 70 for the day, with a birdie on the 18^th sweetening the round.

“I made a bit of a meal of it straight out of the box,” said Ormsby, who put himself on the back foot early with a double bogey on the second hole.

“It was just tough out there. Warming up we knew it was going to be a really tough day, trying to find a way to keep the ball down.

“I just kept grinding really; that’s all we can do in weather like that.

“You’re going to hit a lot of bad shots but you need to recover a lot and I did that quite well, so I’m happy.”

Feeling confident ahead of the final round, Ormsby believes the weather will make all the difference on Sunday morning.

“I feel good, I’m pretty relaxed this week,” he continued.

“I had a tough week last week, so I’m trying to enjoy myself a little bit more this week, so I’m doing that so far.

“We’ll see what it’s like in the morning and I’ll go out there and try my best.”

New South Welshman Matthew Stieger also defied wild, wet and windy conditions at 13^th Beach Golf Links to record seven birdies and elevate his tournament total to 13-under.

Playing in the morning field and finishing his third round at 7-under the card before the overnight leaders had even teed off, Stieger played in heavy rain before strong winds took over and still remained bogey-free.

“We got hammered with the rain for about three or four holes there, so it was really good to get through that stretch, but no bogeys today, which is really nice,” said Stieger.

“I just stuck to my game plan out there.

“I sort of had to hit away from a few flags because they were tucked a little bit, but made really good use of the ones that I could go at.

“Coming from St. Michael’s, I played a lot of golf in the wind so I actually love these types of conditions.”

England’s Callum Shinkwin also fired 6-under the card in the morning for a total of 13-under, allowing him to join the front-runners at the top of the scoreboard, tied for second place.

Queensland’s Brad Kennedy had an even par third round, finishing at 12-under the card aided by his run of 41 bogey-free holes.

Round two leaders Jason Scrivener and Nick Flanagan struggled through the third round, each posting multiple bogeys to finish at 10-under.

Wind is expected to lessen for Sunday’s final round at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open, where 36 players will tee it up at 13^th Beach Golf Links after a third round cut was made at 7-under the card.

The final round of the ISPS HANDA Vic Open will tee off at 8.27am with the leaders; Ormsby, Stieger and Shinkwin on course at 12.35pm.

A blemish-free second round at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open has handed Jason Scrivener a two-shot lead after the morning’s play as winds pick up around the beach-side course.

After a sensational round of 8-under par on day one, Scrivener recorded six birdies to finish 6-under 66 on day two to push to the top of the field.

“It’s been two solid days’ work,” said Scrivener, who’s strong form has been evident early this season after three top-10 finishes on the European Tour.

“It’s just patience really, I think knowing there’s a lot of birdies out there helps.

“If you try to rush them, you can make mistakes, so just plodding your way around and being smart about it.

“I can’t really fault it really; I played nicely, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.

Returning to Melbourne after a stint overseas, the Western Australian is pleased with his form in the varying weather conditions.

“I think we can play; the golf course has been pretty benign the last two days, so definitely aware that it can get up and the scoring can get a lot tougher,” he continued.

Playing in the second group out this morning, fellow West Australian Matt Jager picked up where he left off in 2018, shooting 6-under 66 to take full advantage of the morning’s conditions at 13^th Beach Golf Links.

“Even though it seemed really calm, there was still enough there today to make it tricky,” Jager said of the conditions.

“The early morning wind typically is quite heavy being this coastal anyway, so it was doing enough to trick it up.

“I just managed my ball pretty well and here we are a couple 66’s, it’s pretty good.

With six birdies yesterday, Jager took his form to another level on the creek course for round two.

“Certainly the 10th hole of the day was a highlight obviously making eagle there,” said Jager.

“That came off the back of making a really good save on the 9th, a short par-4 where I felt I should have used my length to my advantage and scrambled for a par.”

Scotland’s David Law also recorded 6-under for the morning to record an 11-under two-day total, while Victorian Matthew Griffin, who won the Vic Open in 2014, has finished at 10-under alongside Michael Hoey, Anton Karlsson and Grant Forrest.

Overnight leader Nick Flanagan and favourites James Nitties and Lucas Herbert continue their Vic Open campaign this afternoon in round two. Click here to follow the live scores.

West Australian Jason Scrivener and New South Welshman Nick Flanagan are tied for the lead at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open at 14-under par.

After firing 10-under the card in the first round overnight leader, Nick Flanagan put together a steady round of 68 late in the day to maintain his share of the top spot.

“I’m probably happier with today’s round considering it was backing up that 62 and it could have been anything today,” said Flanagan.

“I probably could have been a couple better, but I had my fair share of long putts and good breaks so far the first two days.”

Flanagan’s positive mindset has translated on the scorecard at 13^th Beach Golf Links as he continues his comeback from an injury plagued few years.

“The thing I’m kind of working on at the moment is just really being kind of happy with the effort I’m making on every shot and not worrying about result,” he continued.

“Its cliché, but it works. So my goal is to really get to the end of a round and be happy between the ears with what I’ve done and if it’s a 74 or a 64, it doesn’t really matter, that’s the goal for the weekend.”

Playing in the morning field, Scrivener fired a blemish free 6-under 66 to ensure his name was at the top of the leaderboard.

“It’s been two solid days’ work,” said Scrivener, whose strong form has been evident early this season with three top-10 finishes from just four starts.

“It’s just patience really, I think knowing there’s a lot of birdies out there helps.

“If you try to rush them, you can make mistakes, so just plodding your way around and being smart about it.

“I can’t really fault it really; I played nicely, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.

Eight birdies and two bogeys saw Wade Ormsby to 6-under 66 on the creek course, but it is the positives that he’ll take from his 36-holes of play so far.

“I think you’ve got to look at the positives,” said Ormsby after toughing it out on the last five holes of the creek course.

“It just played a bit tougher towards the end.

“I hit a good shot and went through the back of a green and left myself a little tricky shot; just hit into the part of the green that was very tricky so that too was kind of one of the bogeys that was weak if you know what I mean.

“I had a nice up and down on the last so that definitely made me feel a bit better after the last five holes.

With a strong round of 7-under 65 on day one, Ormsby believes his play is up to scratch on the all-important beach course ahead of the weekend.

“Scoring’s good, but there’s a lot of good players out here, the parameters are getting a lot tighter and guys are getting better all the way through,” continued Ormsby.

“You’ve got to stay on your game.”

Matt Jager and Brad Kennedy are tied for fourth place on 12-under the card.  While Scotsman David Law, France’s Clement Sordet and South Australian Nick Cullen are tied for sixth place on 11-under.

Rounding out the top-10 on 10-under the card is a group seven players including former Vic Open champion Matt Griffin and Victorian favourite Lucas Herbert.

The second round cut was made at 5-under the card with 77 professionals and three amateurs making the third round.

James Nitties feared the worst at 13th Beach.

He’d been just one under par through four holes of the ISPS Handa Vic Open, having missed short birdie opportunities on three successive holes after an opening birdie on the Beach Course’s 10th hole.

Then, from the middle of the fairway with a relatively short second to the par-four 14th, the New South Welshman tugged his approach left, flubbed his third into a bunker, took a nasty double-bogey and found himself – perhaps unjustly – at one over and in danger of being left behind on a day of uber-low scoring.

But rather than grumble and fret about what might have been, Nitties turned it around.

In a hurry.

Big time.

In fact, he responded in a way that only three other people in the history of tournament golf have.

Nine birdies. In a row.

After three, the other players knew something was up.

After five, they daren’t even mention it audibly to Nitties.

After seven, even his caddie Steven Potts was too nervous to pipe up, lest he wear the blame for ending the magic.

By the fifth hole, Nitties had narrowed the gap to great mate Nick Flanagan from 11 shots two hours earlier to just two after his ninth consecutive one-putt.

He was inside 4m on the sixth for his shot at glory – the elusive 10th successive birdie that would have separated him from Mark Calcavecchia, Amy Yang and Bronte Law as those who’ve had nine on the bounce.

But alas, the putt slipped narrowly by and he took a quarter share of the mark.

“I don’t hold any other world records that I know of, so to be a part of one is pretty cool,” Nitties said.

“I had a good chance for that 10th birdie, but I didn’t want to break it. It’s such a long-standing record.

“I definitely have the world record for best bounce-back stat because if I holed the nine birdies and I preceded it with a double-bogey.

“I was a little peeved that I made double from the middle of the fairway and followed up with a couple birdies and then rattled off about seven or eight more is pretty special.”

Low scores were the order of the day at 13^th Beach Golf Links but no one went lower than Nick Flanagan.

The New South Welshman has begun his 2019 season in spectacular form, completing his opening round at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open at 10-under 62 after playing the creek course.

While thick fog delayed the start of the tournament for an hour and 10 minutes, it did nothing to delay Flanagan’s game.

Starting on the 10^th tee he reeled off two eagles, eight birdies and two bogeys to sit two shots clear of the chasing pack heading into the second round.

“A couple of putts early kind of dropped and then I just wasn’t trying too hard essentially,” said Flanagan.

“I just had one of those days where everything seemed to kind of go right.

“If I hit a bad shot, it would just miss a bunker and end up in a nice lie, knocked it up close and kind of just kept momentum going.”

A host of injuries forced the former U.S. Amateur Champion out of the game but Flanagan secured status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia via Qualifying School for 2018 and finished 20^th on the Order of Merit.

In 2019, he can now focus on building a schedule.

“I’ve been playing well for the last two years, I just haven’t been playing enough golf,” continued Flanagan.

“I’m just trying to lower the expectations again and kind of get back to where I was, obviously today it worked.

“It’s not going to work every day this year, but if it keeps working this week, it would be great, If it doesn’t, just keep building on that for the next couple weeks,” said Flanagan, who will go on to play the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth next week.

Rooming with Flanagan for the tournament is James Nitties who began his Vic Open campaign in spectacular fashion from the 10^th tee of the beach course.

Sitting tied for second place at 8-under 64, it was Nitties’ run of nine consecutive birdies from holes 15 – 5 that saw him equal the World Record for most consecutive birdies in a tournament round.

First set by Mark Calcavecchia, the record has been equalled once before by Rayhan Thomas of Dubai.

“I don’t hold any other world records that I know of, so to be a part of one is pretty cool,” said Nitties.

“I had a good chance for that 10th birdie, but I didn’t want to break it.

“It’s such a longstanding record, I wouldn’t do that to Mark, so it’s good to hold it with him,” said Nitties with a cheeky smile.

Congratulating his roommate on his first round, Nitties credited Flanagan’s choice of dinner meal the night before for their combined 18-under score in the first round.

“I was saying before that he cooked us delicious burritos last night, so maybe they’ll be on the menu again tonight.”

Joining Nitties at tied second on the leaderboard are James Anstiss (NZL), Hugo Leon (CHL), Kurt Kitayama (USA), Callum Shinkwin (ENG) and Jason Scrivener who was the only player to record 8-under whilst playing in the afternoon field.

Rounding out the top-10 is a group of seven players at 7-under the card.

The second round of the ISPS HANDA Vic Open tees off at 7am with Nick Flanagan teeing off on the beach course at 1.40pm.