Bautista’s 2-under-par 70 reeled in good friend Jay Mackenzie (73), who led by as many as five shots early in the final round at Kalgoorlie Golf Course, to secure his third title for 2025.

The two tournaments the Sydney professional has won on the Sunshine Tour in Africa have helped him to second place on their Order of Merit standings, and he now sits in third position in the early season Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia rankings.

“That would be sensational,” Bautista said of his lofty double Order of Merit goal.

“I haven't heard of anyone doing that with the Sunshine and the Australasian tours, but now I've got an opportunity.

“I'm going to play another three more here and they're going to be the big ones.

“I'm putting myself in position to do that (win both Order of Merits), so that'd be really cool.”

Bautista (66-72-66-70) finished on 14-under-par, with Mackenzie at 13-under and Queensland’s Will Florimo third at 10-under.

The final round pairing was a repeat of Sunday at the 2021 WA PGA when Mackenzie won a duel in the desert before the NSW duo went on to become close mates soon after.

This time around, Mackenzie built his lead from two shots overnight to a more commanding five after the first five holes after securing birdies at the first and third and then seeing Bautista bogey the fifth when he found trouble to the left of the fairway.

The gap was back to three strokes by the turn and then just one when Bautista started the back nine with two birdies.

Mackenzie held firm until his tee shot on the par-4 16th ended up next to a tree, forcing him to chip out lefthanded, leading to a bogey and a tie for the lead.

The situation looked like becoming even worse for the long-time leader when he went over the back of the difficult par-3 17th green, failing to find the putting surface with two chips – one not making it up the slope before the second went long.

Incredibly, he holed his next attempt for bogey and Bautista, who had looked like he would be the outright leader going into the 72nd hole, three-putted from distance.

“I was like, well, man, he could make double here and I two putt and I got a two-shot lead going down the last,” Bautista said.

“That putt was actually just really hard. It broke so hard left, but if you get too far right, it just goes right.”

The par-5 18th turned into a chip and putt showdown at the triple-tiered green, Bautista managing to use the slopes best to get his third shot just inside his playing partner before holing his six-footer for birdie after Mackenzie missed.

“Jay's a good friend. It was a good battle. I knew it was going to be tough. He's a pretty gutsy competitor,” Bautista said.

PNG Open runner-up Zach Ion continued his emergence as challenger on Tour by posting the low round on Sunday, a 7-under-par 65, to move to equal fourth, while Jeffrey Guan posted his best score since his return to professional golf, a 66, to claim a tie for 10th.

The second leg of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australia’s West Australian double, the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open, starts on Thursday at Mt Lawley Golf Club in Perth.

World No.3 Lachlan Wood (Qld) scored a convincing victory in the All Abilities competition, shooting a round of 73 on Sunday to break out of an overnight tie with South Australia’s George Vassiliadis (82).

After battling to a 76 on Saturday, Wood, the 2023 champion in Kalgoorlie, set up his victory with four birdies in five holes on the front nine of the final round.

- Paul Munnings.