Having opened up with a 9 under par first round, he finished by hitting a 6 iron to two feet for a birdie on the final hole to win by a single stroke over Australia's most successful golfer, playing partner Greg Norman.

His rookie year on the PGA Tour was a struggle and he missed out on keeping a full card for 2001, finishing 129th on the money list.

[2] He spent two more years in the United States competing mostly on mini-tours while receiving invites to a limited number of second tier Nationwide Tour events.

Spence had a spectacular third round in that tournament where he equalled the course record of 63, set the previous year in the same event by Retief Goosen.

The round also included eight consecutive birdies between the fourth and eleventh holes that matched the records for both the European and Australasian tours.