A flawless final 36 holes of 12 birdies and not a single dropped shot has propelled Kiwi Steven Alker to a top-five finish in the opening tournament of the 2019 Web.com Tour season.

Played from Sunday to Thursday, Alker comfortably made the cut at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and then went to work in the third and fourth rounds, registering six birdies and no bogeys to climb to a tie for fourth.

American Steve LeBrun was the only player with a lower cumulative score in the final two rounds.

China’s Zecheng Dou triumphed by two shots, however, Alker’s cheque for $108,750 a great way to begin his pursuit of a return to the PGA TOUR in 2020.

Although he couldn’t quite match the pace set by Alker it was also a productive final 36 holes for Aussie veteran Cameron Percy.

Kick-started by an eagle at the first hole of his third round, a second straight 4-under 68 in the final round lifted Percy up into a tie for 16th as he too works towards a PGA TOUR recall.

With rounds of 70-70-70-71 Brett Drewitt’s consistent week resulted in a tie for 24th while a second round of 7-under 65 was the highlight for New Zealand left-hander Tim Wilkinson who finished tied for 52nd.

Rhein Gibson, Jamie Arnold and Brett Coletta all failed to make the cut.

The next event on the Web.com Tour schedule is The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic that will also be played from Sunday to Wednesday where Stuart Appleby will make his first start for 2019.