Craig Parry will try to hold on to his Australian Open Title this week at the Royal Sydney Golf Club after winning the event at his 24 attempt last year.

The 42-year-old made a 6m putt to save par and protect a one-stroke lead on the 17th hole, shot a final-round 69 to finish at 11-under, comple his set of Australia’s leading professional titles.    

A stroke back were Nick O’Hern (70), exciting Korean-born Sydneysider Won Joon Lee (66) and unlucky American Brandt Snedeker 69. Snedeker will rue a one-stroke penalty on the 14th hole when his ball moved after he attempted to remove a small leaf. He missed forcing a playoff by a shot.

But after a day where six players – Parry, O’Hern, Lee, Robert Allenby, James Nittes and Paul Sheehan – held or shared the lead at some stage, it was Parry who prevailed.

The AU$1,650,000 Austrlian Open runs fromDecember 11 to 14 at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.

The Australian Open was first held in 1904 and is the world’s third oldest championship behind the British and US Opens, dating back to the days of hickory shafts and gutty balls.

The tournament boasts an honour roll of golfing greats with the names of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, Greg Norman and Gene Sarazen inscribed on the Stonehaven Cup.

Nicklaus once described the championship as the game’s fifth major but the tournament has struggled to attract the top overseas players in recent years because it cannot match the prize money on offer in the US.