Newcastle professional Aaron Townsend is the king of golf in the state after a three-shot win in the NSW PGA Championship at Wollongong yesterday.
The 28-year-old now holds both the NSW Open and PGA titles after a solid 66 gave him victory yesterday.
He will defend his NSW Open at The Vintage next week, but a year to the day since that breakthrough win he added a second professional win at Wollongong.
Starting the final day a shot behind Queenslander Michael Wright at 17-under, Townsend immediately put a plan to make birdies into action with three on the opening three holes to become joint leader.
He was never out of the lead from then on, although he had bogeys on five and seven as the wind freshened.
"I was little bit disappointed to be behind (after Saturday) but I wasn't really worried because I knew you had to shoot a good score to win," Townsend said.
"It's not a course that you can defend on because there were a lot of birdies out there.
"I knew if I could get it going early on and put some pressure on him it would give me a chance."
It was the perfect end to a great week for Townsend, who flirted with 59 before firing an equal course record 61 on Friday.
He totalled 21-under 259 for the four rounds to win by three from overnight leader Wright, who had even-par 70, and Scott Arnold (66).
It was a great result for Arnold, who was playing his first tournament in Australia as a professional, and had produced a 61 on Saturday to shoot into contention.
While Arnold continued his good form yesterday, Wright had a poor day with the putter. After having an eagle on the first he turned in three-over the card.
Bogeys on four, six, seven and nine ruined his chances.
He finished with a pair of birdies to gain a tie for second but never recovered from his mid-round slump.
"I got in front and Michael (Wright) was having a bit of a rough day with the putter, which put him behind the eight ball," Townsend said.
"I was putting real well and playing consistent.
"I had really good rhythm going (on my swing) and I really didn't give him a chance to come back at me."
Townsend extended his lead to two shots with birdie on the 10th and followed up with a four on the par 5 12th and a two on the 15th to make the championship his to lose.
"I was very comfortable after I made birdie on 15 I was leading by three with three to play," Townsend said.
"It's a great feeling but you still have to make sure you don't make any mistakes."
The low round of the final day was shot by Brad Andrews, who had 64 in the testing, hot conditions to equal 12th at 12-under par.
Townsend will defend his NSW Open title but will miss the Australian Open when he tries to gain his card at Japanese Tour school in early December.
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