Tim Wilkinson has completed a dominant week at Tauranga Golf Club, claiming the 20th Carrus Tauranga Open by seven shots after closing with a four-under-par 66.

Wilkinson finished the tournament on Sunday at 20-under-par 260 after rounds of 63, 66, 65 and 66, comfortably ahead of defending champion Josh Geary and Kerry Mountcastle, who shared second at 13-under.

Despite the sizeable winning margin, Wilkinson’s final round was anything but smooth sailing, a media release said.

Starting the day with a two-shot lead, he birdied the second before back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth tightened the contest.

An eagle at the par-five sixth quickly restored momentum and another birdie at the eighth had him back on track.

However, a double bogey at the ninth left him making the turn at even par 35 and still with work to do.

“A struggle. It was tough work out there,” Wilkinson said.

“I started pretty solid, hitting the ball well, and then I struggled in the middle of the round. But the back nine, I had some really solid shots, made a couple of good putts and it was good.”

Wilkinson responded with the composure that had marked his tournament, producing a bogey-free four-under 31 on the inward nine.

Consecutive birdies at the 12th and 13th helped him pull away before another at the 16th tightened his grip on the title.

He said reaching 20-under had been a target heading into the final round.

“I thought, if I got out there and got to 20-under, which I eventually did at the very last, that it’d be tough for the guys behind to catch me, especially on a day like this.

“My speed putting was terrible today, so it was a real struggle. But it was good to get it done because it was a tough day and you had to keep concentration.”

A birdie at the 18th completed the milestone and capped a week in which Wilkinson featured prominently on the leaderboard from start to finish.

He shared the opening-round lead with a seven-under 63, remained within a shot of the lead after 36 holes and moved two clear with a third-round 65 before sealing victory on Sunday.

Even as the lead grew throughout the final round, Wilkinson admitted he never felt fully at ease.

“I didn’t feel comfortable all day,” he said.

“I didn’t play particularly freely today, which is something I’m a little bit disappointed in, but I hit some good shots and made some good putts when it mattered, so that was important.”

Behind the winner, Geary carded a final-round 68 to finish runner-up alongside Mountcastle, who closed with a 71 after entering the final day just two shots off the lead.

Jake Meenhorst shared fourth at 10-under following a three-under 67, alongside South African amateur Nash de Klerk and Douglas Holloway.

De Klerk’s performance secured him the men’s amateur title after rounds of 67, 65, 68 and 70 left him tied fourth overall on 10-under.

Holloway had led after two rounds but consecutive weekend rounds of 71 saw him fall back into a share of fourth.

James Hydes finished seventh at nine-under, while Zachary May surged seven places on the final day with a six-under 64 to claim eighth at eight-under.

Tyler Wood was ninth at seven-under after a closing 65, with Dominic Brettkelly rounding out the top 10 at six-under.

In the women’s amateur division, Chloe So completed a seven-shot victory despite a closing four-over 76.

So finished the championship at 11-over after rounds of 75, 75, 73 and 76, comfortably ahead of Yeowon Yoon, who was runner-up at 18-over. Sophie Yu finished third at 22-over after matching So’s final-round 76.

The All Abilities Invitational was won by Daniel Robinson, who claimed the Gross title with a two-round total of 168, three shots clear of Guy Harrison.

Andrew Woo secured the Net title with rounds of 79 and 72 for a total of 151.

The victories brought the 20th edition of the Carrus Tauranga Open to a close, with Wilkinson’s commanding 20-under performance delivering the professional title and So, de Klerk, Robinson and Woo collecting honours in their respective divisions.