Once ranked as high as 129th in the world, Flanagan’s career has been in a state of flux in recent years due to both injury and a lack of playing opportunities.
Once a Hunter product tipped to challenge the likes of Jan Stephenson and Jack Newton as one of the region’s greatest ever golfers, Flanagan returns for the TPS Hunter Valley at Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club facing his own golf mortality.
He also becomes the first player to win the New Zealand Open twice since Greg Turner in 1997, and the first Australian to win twice since Bob Shearer in 1981.
Adam Scott has Augusta on his mind after staving off a host of challengers – and plundering a timely eagle at 15 – to claim his second Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Sunday.