Peter Wilson (Kaikorai) proved that he is the master of the tie-breaker by winning the Professional Bowls Association singles final on Sunday night.
Wilson (39), a process worker for Fonterra, beat New Zealand squad member Mark Watt (North East Valley) 10-5, 4-10, 2-0 in a tense final at the Dunedin Bowls Stadium.
In the set game the tie-breaker is used if both players have had a win in the first two sets.
The winner is decided on the best of three ends.
There were 51 bowlers competing in Dunedin for national play-off positions for the Scottish International Open Singles and Wilson faced the tie-breaker in his five rounds.
It puts extra pressure on a bowler in the tie-breaker because they cannot afford to play any loose bowls.
It is rare for a bowler to face the tie-breaker in all his games.
It is believed to be a New Zealand record for a major PBA tournament.
Wilson demonstrated that he has nerves of steel.
"I just tried to hang in there and get my first bowl close," Wilson said.
"It was a big scalp for me tonight. I personally don't like playing the tie-breaker but I mastered it today."
Wilson started playing bowls in 1994 and has been a member of the PBA for five years.
It was the third time he had reached the final of a major event.
He was runner-up to Bill Clements (Alexandra) in his first year and missed out on a trip to the Welsh Masters at Llanelli when beaten by New Zealand representative Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) two years ago.
"I drew better than Mark and just tried to get my first bowl close. This put pressure on him and forced him to rake at the head."
Watt started strongly in the first set with a three on the first end.
But Wilson came back strongly with two shots on the next four ends to take control.
He was successful with two drives when Watt had shots on the head.
Watt was in control throughout the second set and it came down to the tie-breaker.
Wilson won the first set and put the pressure on Watt by putting a toucher in front of the jack with his first bowl in the second set.
Watt failed in his four attempts to shift the jack and Wilson qualified for the national final in September.
In the semifinals, Wilson beat Aidan Lusby (Andersons Bay) 7-9, 9-2, 2-0 and Watt beat Mark Cowan (Fairfield) 8-6, 8-4.
Jamie Hill (Auckland) beat New Zealand No 1 Chris Lourie (Waikato) 7-6, 5-6, 2-1 at Hamilton.
At Hastings, Murray Glassey beat fellow Hawkes Bay player Paul Sorensen in the final.
Wilson will join Hill and Glassey in the national finals at Dunedin from September 3 to 5.
