His next ranking event was the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo, where he defeated Xiao Guodong (5–1), Matthew Stevens (5–2), Matthew Selt (5–3), and Mark Davis (6–4) to reach the first ranking event final of his 16-year professional career. He faced Peter Ebdon and finished the first session of the match leading 5–3, which included a spell of four successive frames that meant Ebdon had not potted a ball for over an hour. In the evening session Hawkins won all four frames played to take the title with a 9–3 victory. He made three centuries in the final and climbed to world number 20 thanks to the win, as well as earning praise from Ebdon himself.