JON BARNES won the Waltham Contractors Hampshire PGA Strokeplay Championship for the second time at South Winchester on Tuesday - and clinched his fourth HPGA Order of Merit title in the process.
It was a double deed which rubber-stamps his position as the most successful and certainly the most consistent golfer on the Hampshire PGA for the last five years.
The 32-year-old Sandford Springs and former Chilworth professional, who lives at Hamble, has now won five county majors and topped the order of merit four times.
The conditions at South Winchester were so tough that Alresford's James Ablett, one of his only remaining challengers for the order of merit, pulled out after struggling to a first round 77.
Kevin Saunders, the left-hander from Dibden who was not only defending the PGA title but trying to keep the order of merit crown as well, could only manage a tie for 13th place.
So Barnes was home and dry, but not without a fierce challenge from the Worldham Park professional Jon Le Roux, who brilliantly engineered an eagle chance at the 36th and final hole to tie the lead. He had a ten-foot putt to force Barnes into a play-off but left it just short of the cup.
Barnes finished the day with a five-under-par total of 139 for 36 holes, a commendable performance as the wind stirred and began to buffet this upland course, particularly later in the day when there was a positive nip of autumn in the air.
Many players said the greens were bumpy and difficult, but the quality of Barnes' putting set him aside from the rest of the field.
He began his round at the tenth and reached the turn two under after sinking putts of over ten feet for birdie at both the 17th and 18th.
He proved he was fallible by three putting two and nine, but in between rammed in an eagle at the third with a 20-feet putt from the fringe grass.
It gave him a round of 70 - two under - and he improved to three under by reaching the third green in two hits second time out, then going down in two putts.
Barnes bogeyed the fifth after finding the sand, but gave nothing else away. He holed out across the seventh green to go back to three under, then picked up two more shots at the tenth and 17th with long putts, the second from fully 30 feet.
Le Roux produced the best nine-hole score of the day when he went through the back nine in a five-under-par 31 (an eagle and three birdies) during his first round.
Brushes with sand and water saw him give two back through the front nine, but, like Barnes, he stayed focussed when the conditions worsened for the second round and managed four more birdies in his 71.
Porter replaces 'Rico'
The 11th hour withdrawal of former Ryder Cup star Steve Richardson gave the Hampshire amateur champion David Porter the chance to play alongside defending champion Saunders in only his second event since turning professional.
And the Southampton youngster shot a second round 69 - he was three under after three holes - to move up into a tie for fifth place with matchplay champion Russell Tate.
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