BIRDIES at his final two holes has earned Kyle Michel a share of victory with David Bransdon at the Stuart Appleby Cohuna Pro-Am at Cohuna Golf Club.
Michel and Bransdon both produced six-under 66s to finish two shots clear of the field in the PGA Pro-Am Series.
Michel was accurate off the tee, but it took a birdie putt from long range late to spark his charge.
“I holed a very nice, lengthy putt on the second-last and thought that one more birdie would just cap off the day,” said Michel, who began his round with a bogey at the par-five fifth.
“I was able to hit it close on the last and holed the putt,” he told pgatour.com.
“Obviously Cohuna is a very tight golf course and I managed to keep the ball in play all day.
“I gave myself plenty of looks and made a few putts.”
Bransdon began his round with a birdie at the par-four third and added five more at five, 10, 13, 16 and 17 in his bogey-free 66.
Corowa Golf Club director of golf James Gordon earned a share of third with Anthony Choat and rising youngster Matias Sanchez at four-under par.
Meanwhile, a par at the second playoff hole was enough to earn Deyen Lawson victory at the 65th Border Open Pro-Am at CluBarham Golf and Sports Club.
The day-one leader with a round of five-under 68, Lawson found himself with company at the top of the leaderboard late in the second round.
With just two holes to play, there were five players tied for the lead at six-under, Lawson joined by Matt Millar, Michel, Murray Open winner Tom Power Horan and Lachlan Armour.
Millar (67) was the first to reach seven-under when he birdied his penultimate hole, the par-five seventh.
With the pressure on Lawson (71) responded with a birdie of his own at his final hole, the par-three 18th, to send one of the most enthralling tournaments in Border Open history to extra holes.
Lawson and Millar first headed to the short par-four ninth, where Lawson hit his tee shot into the greenside bunker after the laser-accurate Millar found the fairway.
Millar hit his approach shot to 25-feet and watched on as Lawson played a brilliant bunker shot to tap-in range and a certain birdie.
Millar’s birdie putt looked in all the way, took a late move toward the left side of the hole before sneaking in to send the playoff to a second hole.
The pair moved to the 165-metre par-three 10th, where again Lawson took the upper hand.
Millar pulled his tee shot left of the green and when Lawson hit the green 20-feet from the hole it looked like a two-putt par would be enough to clinch victory.
The Canberran hit his chip shot from back-left of the green to just five-feet, putting the pressure back on Lawson to convert his birdie opportunity.
He was left in a state of disbelief when his putt dived left of the hole at the last second but the same would happen to Millar just moments later, allowing Lawson to take the win.
“I thought my birdie putt on the second playoff hole was in but it broke to the left a lot late and that is exactly what happened to Matt’s par putt,” Lawson said.
“I enjoyed playing a course that was firmer than what we’ve been playing on recently. It was nice to see the ball bounce on the fairways.
“It was great to have my coach (Darrell Brown) on the bag for the last two days too.”
