Manawatu-based professional Tim Wilkinson won the 2005 Masterton/Eketahuna Pro-Am at the Masterton Golf Club yesterday. Wilkinson maintained his overnight three-shot lead from the Eketahuna round heading into the second round, to post a three-under-par 68 yesterday. Following his first round 63, Wilkinson ended at 11 under par to beat Guy Penrose bythree shots. Penrose, who played his first professional event since gaining a his card at the recent PGA Tour of Australasia qualifying school, carded 66 and 68 for an eight-under total of 134. Canterbury's Ryan Haywood, with rounds of 67 and 69, and Auckland's Clarke Osborne, who shot 69 and 67, shared third place at six under. Last month Wilkinson gained a full Nationwide Tour playing card for 2005 with his performance at the USPGA Tour qualifying school. He decided against travelling to Panama for this weekend's opening Nationwide Tour event. His next event is the New Zealand Open before he opens his 2005 Nationwide Tour campaign at the Jacobs Creek Open in Adelaide and the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater in Christchurch. This was the first event of the 2005 New Zealand PGA Order of Merit season and carried a purse of $15,000. Leading scores from the 2005 Masterton and Eketahuna Pro-Am golf tournament: 131: Tim Wilkinson 63 68 134: Guy Penrose 66 68 136: Ryan Haywood 67 69, Clarke Osborne 69 67. 138: James McIsaac 68 70 139: Paul Devenport 69 70, Stephen Gordon 71 68 140: Grant Moorhead 66 74, James Clelland 67 73, Stuart Thompson 68 72, Mark Brown 70 70 142: Peter Smith 72 70 144: David Hartshorne 73 71 145: Hamish Robertson 76 69, Bryce Mawhinney 77 68 146: Ewan Rankine 70 76, Ian Peters 72 74, James Napier 74 72 147: Michael Duncumb 71 76, Stuart Reese 71 76, Nicholas Davey 72 75, John Reid 72 75, Craig Owen 76 71 148: Scott Puddick 71 77, Colin Hunt 72 76, Craig Mitchell 72 76 149: Paul Maisey 73 76, Andrew McNair 75 74.
