FORMER British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch broke 70 for the first time for 17 months yesterday as Peter Senior won the Canon Challenge in Sydney for a second time. Senior fought off challenges from five players over the final round to shoot a three-under par 69 to win by two strokes from fellow Australians Robert Allenby, Brad King and Robert Willis.

Baker-Finch was given a rousing reception as he walked the last fairway of the Terrey Hills course on the way to a 69 - his best round since a 68 in the Queensland Open in October 1994 where he had last made the halfway cut. It came after earlier rounds of 78 70 and 73 that saw him tie for 33rd place with a two-over aggregate of 290.

Senior's 10-under total of 278 earned him his 16th title on the Australian Tour. He mixed six birdies with a bogey at the third and then a double bogey from trees lining the fifth fairway. "I struggled a bit, but putted extremely well," he said.