Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford won the PGG Wrightson National Circuit final at the three-day Golden Shears in Masterton last weekend.
Mr Stratford scored the biggest win of his career, although he was only fourth to finish.
His shearing quality enabled him to overtake three faster finishers who had won the event eight times between them.
Tony Coster, of Rakaia, was second, while Lorneville-based Winton shearer Darin Forde was third after beating Stratford off the board by 1min 52.184sec. Mr Stratford has won almost 40 open titles in an open career that started in 1997.
On Saturday, he was also fourth in what was his fifth Golden Shears Open final.
Mataura shearer Brett Roberts won his second Golden Shears title with a victory of more than a point and a half in the Golden Shears Senior final.