With nine holes to play Bryden Macpherson was on track for a third win in four starts on the PGA Tour China but the birdies dried up on the backnine as the Victorian eventually finished second to local hero Xinjun Zhang.

Macpherson began the final round in a share of second with fellow Australian Ray Beaufils, the pair one behind Zhang but many feeling Macpherson was the man to beat.

A run of four straight birdies from the second for the 2011 British Amateur champion seemed to confirm that belief, but the he ran out of momentum over the closing holes just as the local hope found life.

Zhang managed four birdies on the back nine while Macpherson could only manage even par, the eventual margin four as Zhang took the win.

"The way [Zhang] played on the back nine, he’s a worthy champion," a gracious Macpherson told PGATourchina.com after the round. "He played well when he needed to, and he deserved to win.

"I’m a little bit disappointed. But that’s just part of how it goes. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. "If someone beats you by playing well, you can’t really be angry about that.

"I played how I wanted to play today, I just didn’t quite get the scoring I wanted on the back nine."

Jack Munro was next best of the Australians at seventh with Ray Beaufils struggling to a 2-over final round and finishing T8.

The runner-up cheque moves Macpherson to within AU$16,000 of Order of Merit leader Josh Geary who played in Fiji this week.

The pair are almost AU$50,000 ahead of third placed Eugene Wong of Canada and with the top five earners gaining status on the Web.com Tour in 2016 both are virtually assured of playing in the US next year.

There are three events left on the PGA Tour China schedule but Macpherson hinted he may not play all of them as there are clashes with the Australian Summer of Golf.

"I have a month to think about it," Macpherson said when asked his thoughts on his money list position with three tournaments left on the schedule.

"You’ll either see me or you won’t."