A trio of late birdies has helped Peter Senior to a top-20 finish after a difficult start at the PGA TOUR Champions Insperity Invitational in Texas.

Senior got off to an unfortunate start with an opening round 75 but got things back on track with a second round 69 to get back to even par.

But the reigning Australian Masters champion was struggling again in the final round, a third bogey of the day at the 14th dropping him to 1-over for the round and well back on the leaderboard.

Senior, though, is known for his tenacity and immediately reeled off three consecutive birdies to get to 2-under for the day and the tournament, the same score he eventually finished at.

The T17 finish is his best result of the season to date and moves him into the top-60 on the Charles Schwab Cup points standings.

Mike Harwood also earned a start at the tournament thanks to winning the E-Z-GO PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit but found the going tough to finish near the tail of the field.