A former winner at Mollymook, Taylor’s win was set-up by a 4-under par round of 68 on day one and a crucial birdie on his penultimate hole of a final round even-par 72 for 4-under total.

With Peter Senior (74) and Peter Lonard (70) both breathing down his neck, Taylor conjured a birdie at the par-3 17th that he admitted post-round came with an element of good fortune.

“I haven’t told a lot of people, but I did pull it left,” Taylor said of his tee shot on 17.

“It ended up lying left of the hole, which is underneath the hole there.

“Made a nice two and I knew Pete had to get it up and down out of the bunker.

“It was one of those shots you take, but you don’t tell anyone that you weren’t aiming over there.”

Senior did make his up-and-down on 17 but bogeyed the last to finish four back of Taylor with Lonard and Adam Henwood (72) sharing third at 1-over.

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Leading New South Welshman Scott Ford by a shot after Round 1, Taylor also had Senior for company in the final group and it was Senior who struck first.

The icon of Australian golf birdied the opening hole to draw within one and set up an enthralling final round of cut and thrust.

Taylor’s lead remained one after Senior made bogey on three and he dropped a shot of his own on five but two birdies after the turn would prove crucial.

It gave Taylor a three-shot buffer that was soon four when Senior made bogey at the par-3 12th.

Taylor made back-to-back bogeys of his own on 14 and 15 to tighten the contest once again before the critical birdie on 17 essentially wrapped up the win.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“It just sort of suits my eye,” Taylor said of his affinity with Mollymook.

“A lot of the holes work both left-to-right and right-to-left but, not only that, the greens are always in pristine condition.

“I haven’t been under the pressure like that to win a two-dayer for a while now. It was actually good to get under the gun and hope your swing hangs on.

“People put some pressure on you and it sorts you out whether your swing’s working or not.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Chris Taylor                  68-72—140
2          Peter Senior                 70-74—144
T3        Peter Lonard                75-70—145
T3        Adam Henwood          73-72—145
5          Brad Burns                   75-71—146
6          Roland Baglin               73-74—147
T7        Mike Zilko                    73-75—148
T7        Andre Stolz                  73-75—148
T7        Martin Peterson           72-76—148
T7        John Wade                   70-78—148

NEXT UP

The PGA Legends Tour moves into the nation’s capital on Tuesday for the two-day ACT Senior PGA Championship at Fairbairn Golf Club.