Nick Cullen’s mission to play his way to the 2018 European Tour took another step forward with his third top 10 of the Challenge Tour season in Sweden this week.

The 2014 Australian Masters winner fired a final round 68 at the Katrineholms Golf Club to work his way to T9 and move up one position on the season long Road to Oman standings.

The top 15 at season’s end will graduate to the main European Tour, Cullen playing some good golf in recent weeks and a good chance to play his way into the upper echelon.

Cullen began his final round with three birdies in his fist even holes before dropping a shot at the eighth then repeated the dose on the back nine with three more birdies against a bogey.

Only three Australians teed up on the secondary Tour this week with Cullen the only one to survive the cut.

Ben Eccles missed by a single stroke at 1-under through 36 holes while Scott Arnold, playing 2017 on a medical exemption, was well off the pace with rounds of 77-74.