Since winning the Australian Masters
in impressive fashion in 2014, Nick Cullen has struggled to find a regular Tour
to play on but a brilliant runner-up finish in France might be the first step
in changing that.

The affable left-hander has limited
status on the secondary European Tour in 2016 and has made just three Challenge
Tour starts for the year.

But some superb golf on a difficult course
at the Le Vaudreuil Challenge now sees him inside the top 40 on the Road to
Oman rankings and with a chance to play his way to the European Tour.

Cullen took a two shot lead into the
final round of the tournament and despite not being able to claim the victory,
a second placed cheque for €18,900 is important in the bigger picture.

The top 45 earners at the end of
2016 maintain playing rights on the secondary Tour, while the top 15 graduate
to the European Tour.

Cullen is now 40^th on the
list but with 12 events of the season left to play, he has a genuine
opportunity to challenge for the top 15.

While he is based in America, the
chance to secure a full European Tour card is one he won’t take lightly and
expect to see Cullen tee up in more Challenge Tour events this year.

Cullen was the best of the three
Australasians in the field, with defending champion Ryan Fox struggling to
overcome a second round 76 on his way to a T18 finish while Dimi Papadatos also
had one bad round out of four.

Opening with 69-69 the former New
Zealand Open winner was inside the top 20 with 36 holes to go but a third round
77 dropped him too far to be a genuine contender.

He eventually finished 56^th
after a final round of even par 72 to be 3-over for the week.