Cameron Davis and Lucas Herbert both built on recent good form with top-10 finishes at the John Deere Classic and Horizon Irish Open, while Kiwi Ryan Fox continued his blistering form as he came runner-up at Mount Juliet Estate.
Sydneysider Davis put together three three-under rounds of 68 with a breathtaking Saturday 65 that included an eagle and seven birdies to finish in the top-10 for the third time in his last seven starts.
In that third round, the 27-year-old uncovered a recipe for success as he bombed the ball long off the tee – 15 yards more than the weekly average – and caught fire with the flat stick – gaining two strokes on the field from putting alone.
His efforts on the final day were less electric as he went bogey free.
Defending champion Herbert said he felt like “an adopted Irishman” this week as he received plenty of encouragement from the local fans and he took them on a wild ride on Sunday.
The 26-year-old shot a front nine 40 to blow any hopes of contending before roaring back into the top-10 with a back nine 31 which included an eagle and four birdies.
At the halfway mark of the tournament, Herbert declared his goal was to reach 20-under at the end of 72 holes and while he fell eight shots short of that mark, he was spot on that it was the magic number as Polish victor Adrian Meronk reached that figure to best Fox by three strokes.
For the New Zealander, that result was his seventh top-10 finish in his last ten starts and it has catapulted him inside the top-50 in the world to a career best ranking of number 46.
It came off the back of bookending his tournament with eight-under rounds of 64, but rounds of 73 and 70 in between made victory elusive.
“18 was the only bad shot I hit today (he missed the green left and made bogey) and nice to see some putts go in,” Fox said.
“Been a weird week, shot 64 in the first round, didn’t miss a shot and same today, and then a little bit of scrappiness in the middle.”
Harrison Endycott boosted his chances of gaining a PGA Tour card with a ninth place finish at the Korn Ferry Tour’s The Ascendant in Colorado.
The New South Welshman fired home a seven-under 65 and a four-under 68 on the weekend to move into 19th place on the Tour’s rankings – the top-25 at season’s end graduate to the PGA Tour.
Results
DP World Tour
Horizon Irish Open
Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland
Winner Adrian Meronk (POL) 67-67-68-66-268 $1,000,000
2 Ryan Fox 64-73-70-64-271 $666,660
T9 Lucas Herbert 69-68-68-71-276 $134,400
T58 Scott Hend 72-70-71-71-284 $18,000
T58 Min Woo Lee 72-70-71-71-284 $18,000
T67 Maverick Antcliff 71-69-75-70-285 $13,800
MC Jason Scrivener 73-70-143
MC Zach Murray 73-70-143
PGA Tour
John Deere Classic
TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois
Winner J. T .Poston (USA) 62-65-67-69-263 $1,278,000
T8 Cam Davis 68-68-65-68-269 $214,775
T51 Aaron Baddeley 69-70-69-69-277 $16,880.25
MC Cameron Percy 75-68-143
MC Brett Drewitt 71-72-143
MC Mark Hensby 70-77-147
MC Greg Chalmers 78-69-147
MC John Senden 76-73-149
Ladies European Tour
Amundi German Masters
Golf & Country Club Seddiner See, Germany
Winner Maja Stark (SWE) 68-68-67-70 €45,000
T42 Whitney Hillier 70-71-74-73-288 €1,800
Korn Ferry Tour
The Ascendant
TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
Winner Zecheng Dou (CHN) 69-67-68-67-271 $135,000
9 Harrison Endycott 71-71-65-68-275 $20,625
T50 Nick Voke 75-68-70-71-284 $3,155
T67 Curtis Luck 67-74-78-68-287 $2,955
MC Ryan Ruffels 68-76-144
MC Rhein Gibson 76-76-152
Portland Invitational
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Portland, Oregon
Winner Branden Grace (SA) 69-69-65-203
T16 Matt Jones 72-72-72-216 $223,600
T29 Travis Smyth 77-71-74-222 $153,000
T35 Wade Ormsby 70-76-77-223 $145,000
T44 Blake Windred 79-74-74-227 $127,000
48 Jediah Morgan 76-84-77-232 $120,000
Challenge Tour
Italian Challenge Open
Golf Nazionale, Viterbo, Italy
Winner Kristian Korgh Johannessen (NOR) – won in a playoff – 66-69-71-67-273 €56,000
52 Jarryd Felton 73-68-73-72-286 €1,330
MC Deyen Lawson 71-74-145
MC Dimitrios Papadatos 71-75-146
MC Daniel Hillier 79-70-149
PGA Tour Canada
Prince Edward Island Open
Dundarave GC, Cardigan, Prince Edward Island
Winner Brian Carlson (USA) 68-70-66-65-269 $36,000
MC Will Barnett 73-72-145
MC Cameron John 72-77-149