A pair of Americans delivered command performances halfway around the world during Thanksgiving week. One was Peter Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion and two-time Walker Cup player, winning by five shots in Qatar on the Asian Tour.

Ryggs Johnston, who recently graduated from Arizona State, earned the biggest win of his young career in Australia.

Already exhausted from three stages of DP World Tour Q-School and last week’s season-opening Australian PGA, Johnston wasn’t afforded a practice round on Kingston Heath, site of the Aussie’s national open and only Johnston’s second career start as a DPWT member, because of inclement weather.

Johnston, an unheralded American player, celebrated his first professional victory Sunday with a three-stroke triumph in the Australian Open, while South Korea's Jiyai Shin became a two-time winner of the Women's Australian Open, which was played concurrently at two courses on the famed Melbourne Sandbelt.

Unheralded American Ryggs Johnston can barely believe the company he's now in after crashing the party with a stunning and most improbable Australian Open triumph in Melbourne.

Unheralded American Ryggs Johnston won his first professional title Sunday by closing with a 4-under 68 at Kingston Heath for a three-shot victory in the Australian Open. The Arizona State alum was among three players to earn a spot in the British Open.