Australian Brendan Jones (48) nearly missed the cut at the New Zealand Open but rounds of nine-under-par 62 and five-under 66 over the weekend saw him claim the Brodie Breeze Trophy by three strokes at Queenstown's Millbrook Resort on Sunday.
Jones was in danger of missing out on the third and fourth rounds after a pair of 69s to open the tournament and trailed overnight leader Shae Wools-Cobb by four shots at the start of play on Sunday.
Wools-Cobb shot a 78 to plummet out of contention and Jones drained three birdies on the back nine to finish at 18-under for the tournament, three shots better than Ben Campbell, Tomoyo Ikemura, John Lyras and Eom Jae-woong.
"This is just incredible," said the Japan Tour regular.
"I don't know what's happened but I've won it and I played some pretty awesome golf, for an old guy anyway. It's a dream come true."
The New Zealand Open returned this week for its 102nd edition after being cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID pandemic.
