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Matt Jones holds off big names to win Aus Open

Local hero Matt Jones has won the Australian Open after a riveting final round at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

Leading by three at the start of the day, Jones closed with a rollercoaster two-over-par 73 to edge out Adam Scott (65) and defending champion Jordan Spieth (71) by a shot with a 72-hole total of eight-under 276.

Veteran Rod Pampling finished fourth a further stroke back after firing a spectacular course-record 10-under 61 and sharing the lead for almost two hours late on Sunday.

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Nick Cullen (70) and Lincoln Tighe (72) shared fifth at three under.

The final round shaped as a battle in two before Jones and Spieth made horror starts on Sunday to invite the chasing pack back into the tournament.

Pampling and Scott were quick to take advantage.

After starting the day at four over and 14 strokes off the pace, Pampling dropped another shot on the first hole before racking up nine birdies and then draining a 70-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 18th to set the Open alight.

The veteran smashed the previous course record of 63 at The Australian set by Spieth during the final round last year while winning the tournament by six strokes, when Pampling was runner-up. That was the first time the course had played as a par-71.

Pampling was just two strokes adrift of Jones when he finished his scintillating round and, in an extraordinary twist, sharing the lead after Jones chalked up a triple-bogey seven on the ninth after landing in the water and three-putting after taking his penalty drop.

Jones holed out from the bunker on the 12th to save par before there was a four-way tie for the lead when Scott and Spieth joined the party down the stretch.

Scott crushed Pampling’s dreams of a miraculous victory when he birdied the last hole to capture the clubhouse lead.

But Jones, a local club member at The Australian, retained his composure amid the drama to birdie the 16th to regain sole possession of the lead.

There was more tension to follow, though, with Spieth giving himself a 15-foot eagle putt on the last to force a playoff.

Alas, the world No.1 missed before Jones coolly holed his metre-long par putt to clinch his first major trophy on home soil.

Pampling’s reward for the round of his life was qualification for next year’s British Open as one of the top three finishers not already exempt.

The triumphant Jones and Cullen, being higher-ranked than Tighe, nabbed the other two coveted spots into The Open at Royal Troon.

– AAP

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