Deyen Lawson has announced himself as one of the players to watch for this coming golfing summer after a dramatic playoff win at the Higgins Coatings Sands Pro-Am on Sunday.
Under new ownership by Destination Leisure Group, the tournament marked the return of the adidas Pro-Am Series to the facility at The Sands Torquay for the first time in four years.
Less than a week before the start of the PGA Tour of Australasia season at the Victorian PGA Championship, the 18-hole shootout drew a slew of past Tour winners, but it was Lawson who took first place right after graduating from PGA Education .
Lawson, now a well-established player in Europe, cruised with a two-stroke buffer until the bogeys held his total to four under 68 on his last two holes.
Brett Rankin, the former NT PGA Championship winner, appeared to have quit too late, but birdies on par-4 eight and a chip-in-birdie on par-5 ninth allowed him to get Lawson’s score and a playoff to force.
At the honor, Rankin’s tee shot flickered to the right in the playoff, hopped through the long rough and came to rest under a tree.
With Lawson in the middle of the fairway, Rankin played a brilliant rebound to the front of the green to keep his hopes of victory alive.
Lawson’s approach shot ended with a pin high 15 feet from the hole and when Rankin failed to get up and down the edge, he made his way to victory with two putti.
Lawson, now based on the Gold Coast, took advantage of his return to Torquay to raise coach Darrell Brown as he set his sights on his groundbreaking PGA Tour of Australasia title.
“I ended up playing 28 events in Europe in 19 countries in seven months, so it was a hell of a ride,” said Lawson of his international schedule in 2021.
“It’s nice to be home and I will now play all the Aussie Tour events until March before I return to Europe.
“It was good to have my trainer (Darrell Brown, PGA Professional from Geelong Golf Club) in my pocket today as we haven’t seen each other for a while.”
The adidas Pro-Am Series returns to Queensland on Monday for the $ 30,000 Bartons / BMD Wynnum Pro-Am at the Wynnum Golf Club in Brisbane.