It doesn't get much harder than staring down a 20-foot eagle putt to win your first national golf tournament, but that's exactly what Northland's Luke Brown did on Sunday.
Playing in the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship at the Christchurch Golf Club, Brown battled to make up a two-shot deficit going into the final day on Sunday, trailing defending champion and Canterbury golfer Kazuma Kobori.
Brown, who played out of The Pines Golf Club in Whangārei, made six birdies and a bogey to be five-under at the 16th hole in the final round, leading by two shots. Two bogeys on the 16th and 17th brought the pair on even scores going into the final hole.
Despite a great first-up drive from Kobori, Brown replicated the effort on the par-four, 317-metre 18th and landed on the green, 20 feet from the hole. With the confidence and composure of a seasoned golfer, the 24-year-old sunk the putt and won his first major national title.