Victorian golfer Andrew Kelly claimed the $40,000 Wagga Pro-Am in a controversial finish to the feature event on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The second and final round was washed out late on Friday afternoon due to lightning and the unplayable nature of the course as a thunderstorm hit Wagga Country Club.
With the cancellation of the second round, Kelly, the overnight leader, was declared the winner and the event considered a one-round tournament.
It proved to be a lucky escape for Kelly after he had fallen three shots off the lead and in a tie for fourth position through 13 holes on Friday.
His former housemate and good mate Jack Wilson had moved one shot clear when the storm halted play.
Kelly conceded it was a strange feeling to take victory.
"It feels a bit odd. I feel like Steven Bradbury," Kelly said.
"I had three pretty ordinary holes which got me quite a bit out of it. I got a bit rushed...it's been a while since I've been in this situation so I kind of got a little distracted.
"I guess sometimes though it's better to be lucky than good. Give me a couple of days and I'll just be happy."
After a course record 62 on Thursday, Kelly scored an eagle early but then went bogey, bogey, double bogey to drop down the leaderboard, while Wilson was four under for his round through 14 holes.
Wilson was left to wonder what could have been.
"It obviously sucks but you can't do much about it," Wilson said.
"I had him, I had them all but it's just the way it is unfortunately. We knew this was a possibility coming into today.
"They've made the right call. You can still see the thunder and lightning around, it was pretty hairy there...we were probably lucky it held off for as long as it did.
"I'll be back. I love this tournament and to see how supportive everyone was, the crowd, it was great."
Kelly said he felt for Wilson, his former housemate of four years.
"I do feel for Jack. He's a good mate of mine and he's doing good things," he said.
"Hopefully he keeps doing it because I think Jack has tonnes of potential, things have just got to line up and I hope they do."
Pacific Dunes professional Jamie Hook, who was second overnight, was one shot behind Wilson when play was called off.
Wilson was at 11 under.
Benjamin Clementson had moved his way into outright third at nine under, while champion Australian golfer Peter O'Malley had moved to equal fourth with Kelly at eight under.
O'Malley still had five holes to play.
Wagga Pro-Am chairman Ashley Briggs supported the PGA's decision to cancel the second day's play.
"The most important thing is how fair it is to the players' safety and indeed it is equally played as hard for one round as it is two rounds so we support the decision to look after their safety first and run with the decision of the one day results," Briggs said.
Briggs said the decision to cancel the second day's play did not diminish the success of the Pro-Am in it's 30th year.
"All bar five holes were played. The quality of the field is of NSW Open standard and they all loved the course, yet in the midst of a drought we finally break that with rain at the Pro-Am."
READ MORE