ORANGE’S Steve Conran made the cut for the Australian PGA Championship but couldn’t compete with the big names.

Conran finished the tournament in a six-way tie for 54th on six-over 290.

Robert Allenby claimed the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum yesterday with his 14-under total of 270.

Conran started the tournament with a one-under 70 on Thursday which included four birdies and three bogeys.

The Orange golfer struggled on Friday battling to a four-over 75 which included two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

Conran had two double bogeys and a bogey on Saturday but four birdies helped him to a more respectable one-over 72.

He had a see-sawing final round yesterday with four bogeys and two birdies before finishing with a two-over 73.

It was Allenby’s second big win in as many weeks after breaking a four-year drought in a play-off in the lucrative Nedbank Challenge at Sun City in South Africa.

Allenby (70-68-66-66) shut out his rivals with a wonderful closing round 66 which didn’t include a hint of a mistake.

He finished four ahead of Queenslander John Senden (73-67-67-67) and gritty West Australian Scott Strange (67-70-68-69) tied on 10 under.

Rising Victorian Marc Leishman (70-71-66-68), who secured his US playing card in the Nationwide Tour this year, finish alone in fourth place in nine under, signalling his arrival.

Only a few players in Australian golf history have won more PGA titles than Allenby, one of them being the great Kel Nagle whose name appears on the Joe Kirkwood Cup five wins.

A late entry into the tournament on a sponsor’s invite after Fijian Vijay Singh withdrew injured, Allenby began his final round just one ahead on a quality leaderboard which included the names Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Senden, young gun Michael Sim, Nick O’Hern and Stuart Appleby all in pursuit.

“It was nice feeling coming down the last with a four-shot lead,” Allenby said.

“To do it under the gun in the final round with so many players I respect behind me, was special.

“When you start with the lead, all you have to do is to hold it and don’t do anything stupid. I’ve had my emotions intact all day.

“I did what I had to do, from the first hole to the last hole. I felt totally in control on every shot. It’s a nice feeling to win in that fashion.”

Defending champion Ogilvy, who had tipped some final round fireworks, unfortunately couldn’t get his attacking game going finishing on seven-under.

Adam Scott’s effort to back up last week’s Australian Open win had a Tin Cup-like ending as he plough two balls into the water trying to hit the 18th green, dropping him from eight under to five under and back to 12th place.