Newcastle’s Jake Higginbottom has defied difficult conditions and a tricky DLF Golf and Country Club to charge up the leaderboard on Sunday and finish inside the top-30 at the Hero Indian Open.

Heading into the weekend all eyes were on Maybank Championship winner Scott Hend as he sought to make it two victories on the trot but like many near the top of the leaderboard he wrestled with the course and conditions to finish tied for 35th.

But while Hend went south on Sunday, Higginbottom was making a significant move in the other direction, climbing 36 spots into a tie for 27th courtesy of one of the best rounds of the final day.

Stephen Gallacher’s 1-under 71 – including a quadruple bogey eight on the par-4 seventh hole – was enough for the Scotsman to secure a one-shot win at 9-under par, Higginbottom the best of the Australians at even par.

A third round of 77 had Higginbottom well back in the pack prior to the fourth round but five birdies and just the one bogey saw him record a polished 4-under 68 in the Asian Tour co-sanctioned event.

Kiwi Ben Campbell completed a consistent week with a final round of 1-over 73 to be tied for 32nd, Marcus Fraser joining Hend one shot further back in a tie for 35th.

Sam Brazel was the next best of the Australians in a tie for 45th with Daniel Nisbet and Terry Pilkadaris also completing all four rounds.

Hero Indian Open
DLF G&CC, New Delhi, India
T27        Jake Higginbottom           73-70-77-68—288            €14,334
T32        Ben Campbell                    72-71-73-73—289            €12,464
T35        Marcus Fraser                   71-71-74-74—290            €11,218
T35        Scott Hend                         69-68-74-79—290            €11,218
T45        Sam Brazel                         73-69-73-77—292            €7,323
T54        Daniel Nisbet                     70-73-73-77—293            €5,297
T63        Terry Pilkadaris                 75-70-76-75—296            €3,895
MC         Wade Ormsby                   70-77—147
MC         Jason Norris                       75-74—149
MC         David Gleeson                   84-83—167

Jake Higginbottom will keep his 2018 Asian Tour card after a solid performance at the European Tour co-sanctioned Joburg Open in South Africa.

The former New Zealand Open champion posted a 72-hole total of 9-under-par to be T27 at the tournament, the cheque for a little over US$11,000 seeing him move from 54^th to 48^th on the Order of Merit.

The top-60 at the end of the season retain playing rights and with just one event left on the calendar Higginbottom will be readying his schedule for 2018.

One of five Australasians in the field in South Africa only Higginbottom and Terry Pilkadaris qualified for the weekend, both completing 72 holes ahead of dangerous storms which forced a Monday finish for the final groups.

Scott Barr, Marcus Both and New Zealand’s Josh Geary all missed the cut in what was one of the lower scoring events of the year at Randpark Golf Club.

The cut came at 4-under-par, Barr missing by one shot after a brilliant opening round followed by a disappointing Friday.

As the 60^th placed player on the Order of Merit, Barr is in a precarious position in terms of keeping his card but made a fast start with an opening 65 to be just two off the lead and inside the top-10 after 18 holes.

However, he was 10 shots worse on day two with a 3-over 75 that saw him tumble down the standings and eventually miss the weekend.

For the second consecutive week, however, he retained his position on the money list despite missing the cut and will head to the Indonesian Masters this week still in 60^th position.