Antcliff produced his best round of the week to close out the Challenge Tour’s Hainan Open with a 3-under 69, rising to a tie for 15th alongside fellow Australian Bryden Macpherson at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Since he was tied for 21st at the SEC NZ PGA Championship on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Antcliff has not finished worse than a tie for 17th in 12 events throughout Asia and only twice finished outside the top 10.

China has been particularly prosperous where Antcliff has won three times on the China Golf Tour, finished in the top five on three further occasions and top 10 in two others.

Over the course of those 12 tournaments he has risen almost 400 places in the world rankings and will surely enjoy a further rise from the 241st position he held prior to the start of the Hainan Open.

Granted exemption into the first of two events on Europe’s secondary tour in China courtesy of his runaway position at the top of the China Tour Order of Merit, Antcliff shot three consecutive rounds of 1-under 71 before moving up two places on the final day as Italian Francesco Laporta assumed top spot on the Challenge Tour Ranking with a one-shot victory.

Despite starting the fourth round with a bogey at the opening hole Macpherson responded immediately by making eagle at the par-5 second and was bogey-free for the remainder of his round, birdies at 13, 14 and 18 moving him up 10 places on the leaderboard on Sunday.

A 3-over 75 could prove costly for Kiwi Josh Geary who fell 18 spots on the final day to finish tied for 30th, projected to drop to 22nd on the Order of Merit, the top 15 at season’s end earning promotion to the European Tour in 2020.

Challenge Tour
Hainan Open
Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club, Hainan Island, China
T15        Maverick Antcliff              71-71-71-69—282            €4,112
T15        Bryden Macpherson         72-67-75-68—282            €4,112
T23        Fraser Wilkin       73-70-68-73—284            €2,989
T30        Josh Geary          68-73-70-75—286            €2,485
T34        Cory Crawford   73-66-74-74—287            €2,233
T38        Kade McBride     74-71-70-73—288            €1,856
T59        Kevin Yuan          71-73-73-76—293            €1,038
MC         Ben Eccles           76-70—146
MC         Simon Hawkes    77-69—146
MC         Linus Yip (a)         73-78—151
MC         Kieran Muir         76-76—152
MC         Jackson Dick       87-79—166
WD        Hayden Beard     74