Matt Jones wins Australian Open by 1 stroke over Scott, Spieth

Matt Jones held on to win the Australian Open despite a nervy final round Sunday, while Jordan Spieth failed to duplicate last year’s final round 63.

The 35-year-old Sydney native, whose only other professional win came at the PGA Tour’s 2014 Shell Houston Open, looked to have succumbed to the pressure as he entered the final round with a three-stroke lead.

Jones, who led by three strokes heading into Sunday, dropped three shots in his first two holes and triple-bogeyed the ninth but rallied to end eight under.

Jones said despite struggling to two over in the final round, he’s proud of the way he fought.

Adam Scott, who shot 65 on The Australian Golf Club course Sunday, and Spieth, who had a 71 and missed an eagle attempt on the 18th that could have forced a playoff, were tied for second.

The ball landed safely on the green, however, and after being too cautious with his first putt, he holed a three-footer for par that almost lipped out. Spieth went bogey-bogey to start his round while Jones went bogey-double bogey and just like that the leaders were a combined five over through the first two holes.

But he enjoyed every minute of his one-day stay – he poured in nine birdies and one eagle – to eclipse the “old” record (set by Jordan Spieth last year) by two shots. Starting out the final round nine shots back from Matt Jones’ lead, he knew that he needed to go low.

The names Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player were already on the Stonehaven Cup but for Jones, nothing compared to emulating the success of his boyhood hero Greg Norman. “And now I’m well in contention and likely in the last group, whether it’s three or four behind, it’s a lot better than I’d thought it would be after four holes”.

The Sydneysider’s victory also earned him a place at next year’s British Open along with Pampling and Nick Cullen (68), who shared fifth with Lincoln Tighe (72) on three-under but clinched the spot at Royal Troon courtesy of his higher ranking. “The hitting was fantastic and it just gave me the opportunity to make the putts”.

“Terribly’s a very nice word after what I put on today, but I got the job done as you said”, said Jones after his start had been described as awful.