Scotland’s David Law produced a spectacular finish to overhaul long-time leader Wade Ormsby and win his first European Tour title at the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Law was three shots behind as he stood on the 16th tee at 13th Beach Golf Club, but made a birdie there and then produced a stunning second to eight feet on the par-five last to set up an eagle.
That put him in a share of the lead with Ormsby at 18 under and when the home favourite made a double-bogey on the 17th, he needed an eagle of his own on the last to force a play-off.
The 38-year-old gave himself a putt from the fringe for a three but could only make a birdie and Challenge Tour graduate Law had a one-shot victory over Ormsby and Brad Kennedy in just his 18th European Tour appearance.
Paul Dunne however couldn’t stage a serious final day challenge, ending his week with a one over par 73 to finish on 10 under par for the tournament, eight strokes off the lead.
He was joined in a share of 17th place by Michael Hoey, who shot a 69 on Sunday - the Irish duo both earning €12,169 for their efforts down under.
South Africa’s Justin Harding finished fourth on 16 under with Scotland’s David Drysdale and Australians Jason Scrivener and David Bransdon a shot further back.
The victory represents a remarkable turnaround on the course for Law, who was on the brink of taking on other work over the winter before winning last season’s SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge and finishing 14th on the Challenge Tour.
The 27-year-old had also called a penalty on himself on the ninth, which resulted in a bogey, before he came home in 31.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and LPGA and features men and women playing on the same courses at the same time, for equal prize money.
In the women’s event, France’s Celine Boutier carded a closing 72 to claim a two-shot victory over England’s Charlotte Thomas and local favourites Sarah Kemp and Su Oh.
Kemp surged through the field with a final round of 65 and Thomas returned a 69, while Oh could only manage a 74 and overnight leader Kim Kaufman slumped to a 78 to finish four shots adrift.
Collated European Tour Vic Open (13th Beach GC, Geelong, Victoria, Australia):
270 David Law 67 66 71 66
271 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 65 66 70 70, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 65 72 67
272 Justin Harding (Rsa) 67 71 66 68
273 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 64 66 76 67, David Drysdale 66 69 71 67, David Bransdon (Aus) 69 69 67 68
274 Clement Sordet (Fra) 69 64 74 67, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 66 71 68 69
275 Callum Shinkwin 64 73 66 72, Nick Flanagan (Aus) 62 68 76 69
277 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 69 69 68 71, Anton Karlsson (Swe) 65 69 73 70, Jarryd Felton (Aus) 71 68 68 70, Ashley Chesters 68 67 73 69, Blake Windred (a) (Aus) 70 67 69 71
278 Matthew Stieger (Aus) 71 67 65 75, Paul Dunne 69 66 70 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 66 73 69, Aaron Rai 67 69 73 69, Michael Hoey 66 68 75 69
279 Jason Norris (Aus) 66 71 72 70, Grant Forrest 65 69 72 73
280 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 70 70 71, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 68 70 71, Nick Cullen (Aus) 66 67 75 72
281 Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 68 70 68 75, Gavin Moynihan 67 72 70 72, Daniel Gavins 68 68 71 74
282 Matthew Nixon 71 68 70 73, Steven Jeffress (Aus) 69 69 71 73, David Micheluzzi (a) (Aus) 67 68 74 73
284 Daniel Nisbet (Aus) 68 70 70 76, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 65 69 75 75
285 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 66 72 71 76
292 James Anstiss (Aus) 64 71 74 83
Cut to take place at end of Round 2 for scores of no more than 139
