Kiwi Josh Geary has recorded his best finish on the European Tour at the Magical Kenya Open at Karen Country Club in Kenya.

Continuing on from the excellent form that saw him contend at both the New Zealand Open and SEC NZ PGA Championship, Geary closed with a 3-under par round of 68 to finish tied for ninth, seven shots behind Italian champion Guido Migliozzi.

In 44 previous starts on the European Tour Geary had never finished better than a tie for 10th, a birdie at the 72nd hole was enough to move him inside the top-10.

Starting the final round in a tie for 13th, Geary dropped further back in the pack with a bogey at the 178-metre par-3 fourth but started to gather some momentum at the turn courtesy of birdies at 6 and 7.

A birdie at the par-5 12th for the fourth day in succession got him to 2-under on his round before his first birdie of the week at the 404m par-4 18th catapulted him up inside the top-10.

South Australian Nick Cullen saved his best round for the week – a 2-under 69 – for the final day to end the tournament tied for 54th.

Cullen’s final round saw him move up 11 spots on the leaderboard but after he was 5-under through 13 holes could have been much higher, a double bogey at 15 and bogey at 17 leaving a sour taste in the mouth.

Victorian Deyen Lawson, the only other Australian in the field, missed the cut with rounds of 72-79.

Magical Kenya Open

Karen Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya

T9           Josh Geary          67-73-67-68—275           € 22,293

T54        Nick Cullen          72-70-73-69—284            € 3,850

MC         Deyen Lawson    72-79—151