With the Melbourne golfer teeing off early and posting a creditable 70, Porker had the best of the conditions as the afternoon groups battled winds reaching up to 100kmh.

Although he trailed overnight leader Martin Doyle by three strokes, he was close enough if good enough and his game held up to the pressure yesterday in posting a one-shot win over Corowa’s Marcus Fraser.

“I was happy with a 70 on Thursday because I really thought I would be the clubhouse leader at the halfway stage with the way the wind was blowing,” Porker said.

“It didn’t quite turn out that way as play was stopped for a while and the good players like Marcus Fraser were still able to shoot good scores.

“But I knew I was in the mix and it all came together for me.

“I was pretty much in the top five all week.

“I hadn’t dropped a putt for three days though and things started to work.

“Shooting a 66 is a pretty good feeling.”

The sweet-swinging right-hander, who fired a similar score to win at Broome a year ago, also credited Tim Wise for his strong finish to the tournament with the pair playing partners in the final round.

“He’s a good friend of mine and gives some good advice,” he said.

“I was pretty steady and wasn’t sure if my score would be good enough with some good players still on the course.

“I stayed off the sauce this week as the courses are really good around here and I tried to knuckle down as much as possible and play some good golf.

“I would be a member at any of these courses.”

Almost 70 professionals took part in the two-day event at SS & A Wodonga Country with the $100,000 bonus again expected to be a feature next year.

Fraser said the cash incentive had drawn rave reviews.

“It’s a great idea,” Fraser said.

“The players enjoy the challenge and, although nobody has won it yet, it keeps the interest up and players coming back.”

The majority of the field will converge on the Mansfield-Marysville pro-am starting today.