Sitting 159th in the Race to Dubai standings at the beginning of the Portugal Masters, McLeod book-ended the final full-field event of the season with a 65 in the first round and a round of 8-under 63 to climb 31 places on the final day and a tie for eighth at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.

The 25-year-old completed the rare feat of making eagle on consecutive par 4s (the 388-metre 14th and 288m 15th) and closed out his round with his fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 17th and a par at the last.

In the field for this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai courtesy of his PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit win last year, McLeod’s best finish of the season moved him up nine spots in the Race to Dubai to 150th.

Although well outside the top 115 who retain full playing rights, McLeod now falls within the Category 19 classification for players who finish between 133-155 on the final moneylist in addition to Category 7 qualification on the secondary Challenge Tour.

West Australian Min Woo Lee will rue a couple of costly mistakes on his back nine that will prevent him from retaining full status next year by the narrowest of margins.

Four birdies on the back nine of his second round ensured Lee made the cut on the number and he then made further progress on the leaderboard with a third round of 2-under 69.

Starting the week in 110th position in the Race to Dubai rankings, Lee had two birdies, two bogeys and a double at the par-5 12th on Sunday to fall 16 places into a tie for 63rd and an Order of Merit finish of 117th.

With affiliate members taken into account – of which Lee is one this year – the top 115 on this year’s moneylist earned full cards for the 2020 season but the 21-year-old has fallen two spots shy of more guaranteed starts in 2020.

Kiwi Ryan Fox continued his late-season surge with a tie for 31st and will enter the Race to Dubai finals series in 55th position.

European Tour

Portugal Masters
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal

T8 Jake McLeod 65-72-72-63—272 €29,775
T31 Ryan Fox 72-67-71-67—277 €11,350
T40 Nick Cullen 70-70-67-71—278 €8,700
T63 Min Woo Lee 72-69-69-73—283 €3,450
MC Dimitrios Papadatos 71-71—142
MC Deyen Lawson 74-70—144
MC Sam Brazel 76-69—145
MC Michael Campbell 76-76—152