Abraham Ancer hopes to emulate the feats of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy after joining the superstar duo by putting his name on the Stonehaven Cup with a historic Emirates Australian Open triumph at The Lakes.
Ancer streeted the field to become the first Mexican to win the event, after closing with a nerveless 69 on Sunday to finish five shots clear at 16-under.
The 27-year-old etched his name on the famous trophy alongside not only Spieth and McIlroy but legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman.
“I'm on cloud nine right now. It's been a phenomenal week,” Ancer said.
“Obviously I did a little bit of research and the names on this trophy are absolutely incredible – Jack Nicklaus, recently Spieth, McIlroy ... a lot of names that are extremely recognised in the world of golf and I'm really, really happy that my name's going to be there now.”
Ancer's winning margin over New South Wales runner-up Dimitrios Papadatos – who closed with a 67 – was the biggest for an Australian Open at The Lakes and the biggest at any since Spieth won the trophy for the first time at The Australian four years ago.
Queenslander Jake McLeod, the winner of last week's NSW Open, rebounded from the disappointment of falling out of contention on Saturday with a brilliant last-round 66 to finish third at 10-under.
McLeod had been leading until being penalised a stroke for waiting too long for what he thought was a birdie putt to drop on the fourth hole of the third round.
Both McLeod and Papadatos joined Ancer in earning a start in next year's Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland with their top-three finishes.
But the day belonged to Ancer, who stylishly converted his five-stroke third-round lead into just his second professional win.
His only previous victory came on the secondary American Web.com Tour at the 2015 Nova Scotia Open.
Right: Sweden’s Johan Kammerstad claimed the inaugural Australian All Abilities Championship. PHOTO: Matt King/Getty Images.
Collecting birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth holes, Ancer was seven clear by the turn and never truly challenged.
The breakthrough will send him into 60s on the Official World Golf Ranking and comes after blowing 54-hole leads twice on the PGA Tour this year.
His next aim will be to crack the world's top 50 before December 31 to secure a spot in next year's Masters field at Augusta National as he attempts to make his mark at the majors.
McIlroy and Spieth won both two majors the year after winning the Australian Open and Ancer hopes his victory will propel him to similar lofty heights.
Pre-tournament favourite Cameron Smith closed in style with a 66 for his third straight top-10 home open showing at seven-under.
Brendan Steele, in a tie for 12th, was one stroke further back and the best of the American PGA Tour stars.
Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar both flopped with final-round 75s to finish at four- and three-under respectively.
Integrated into the regular Australian Open field, a world first, the inaugural Australian All Abilities Championship was claimed by Sweden’s Johan Kammerstad, who like Ancer ran away with the tournament, defeating Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor by 10 shots, with Lakes member Geoff Nicholas the best Australian a further four shots back.
Darren Walton, Australian Associated Press
Additional reporting by Jimmy Emanuel
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