A round of 6-under 66 gave Watt a one-stroke lead after Round 1 at Spalding Park Golf Club, an advantage he extended to three courtesy of a 4-under par round of 68 in Round 2.

Paired with Ryan Peake and Scott Strange for the final round, Watt was somewhat slow out of the blocks.

Six pars and a bogey in his opening seven holes gave the likes of Jordan Doull (64) and rwo-time champion Daniel Fox (68) a glimmer of hope that Watt could be reined in.

Birdies at eight, nine and 11 re-established Watt’s ascendancy, building a two-stroke buffer with further birdies at 15 and 16.

He dropped a shot at the par-4 17th to reduce the deficit to one but used a conservative approach to secure the par he needed for his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series win in close to a year.

“It’s always hard to win wire-to-wire,” Watt said post-round.

“I felt a little nervous this morning but how the course was set-up was kind of tricky, so you’ve got to hang in there.

“I didn’t look at the live scoring too much. I looked after nine and saw that a few guys were going quite well so just tried to have a couple more birdies coming home, checked it on the last and managed to get it done.”

Although not quite wire-to-wire, it was a solid performance from PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit leader Chris Taylor to claim the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Legends Open.

One back of Terry Pilkadaris after Round 1, Taylor opened up a four-stroke buffer with a second straight round of 3-under 69 on day two.

Two early birdies in the final round saw that lead balloon to six early, Taylor completing a comfortable three-stroke win despite making bogey at each of the final two holes.

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

With Watt out in front, it did not take long for contenders to make their move in the final round.

New South Welshman Alex Edge made three birdies and an eagle in his first four holes after starting on the 10th tee while Cameron John threatened to make it three wins on the WA swing when he used two birdies and an eagle to draw within two of Watt.

As Watt struggled early, Doull made his move.

A week into his professional career, Doull started the final round seven shots back of Watt but had drawn to within one courtesy of an outward nine of 5-under 31.

He added three further birdies in a bogey-free round that would ultimately come up one shot shy.

Watt’s two birdies prior to the turn proved crucial in building momentum into the back nine.

He took advantage of the short par-4 11th to edge further ahead and following a dropped shot at 13, responded with birdies at 15 and 16.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“I try to make as many (birdies) as I can while limiting the bogeys,” said Watt.

“I like playing quite aggressive so it’s hard sometimes to aim away from the pin but on the last, being in the middle of the fairway, it’s 100 metres, it’s actually hard to aim right of the flag and try to make a four.

“But that’s how you close out golf events and really happy that I did today.

“I got my card back at Q School and I’ve just been continuing to work and tie in these pro-ams to test how I’m going.

“It’s all starting to come back to where it can be so it’s exciting to get a win, especially at a place I’ve been coming since I was a junior.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN

1          Brady Watt       66-68-70—204
T2        Jordan Doull                68-73-64—205
T2        Daniel Fox                    68-69-68—205
4          Tom Addy (a)               69-72-65—206
5          Scott Strange               68-69-70—207
T6        Cameron John              70-70-68—208
T6        Kim Felton                   69-71-68—208
T6        James Marchesani        70-70-68—208

NEXT UP

The WA swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series moves on to Watt’s junior club, Sun City Country Club, on Wednesday for the Total Tree Services Perth Sun City CC Pro-Am where he is also the defending champion. On the east coast of the country, the Queensland run begins on Thursday with the $50,000 Lexus Townsville Classic.