New Zealand golfer Steven Alker has claimed his ninth top-five finish of the year on the PGA Tour Champions.
Alker surged into a tie for fifth with a pair of three-under 67s over the weekend at the Sanford International in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, remaining third on the tour's Charles Schwab Cup standings.
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The 53-year-old entered the weekend down the leaderboard after an even-par 70 in the first round on Friday (Saturday NZ Time), before near-identical rounds on Saturday and Sunday (Sunday and Monday NZT) at the Minnehaha Country Club.
Alker made six birdies and three bogeys in each round, getting him to six-under for the week, finishing two strokes behind American Steve Stricker, who beat Australian Richard Green on the fourth playoff hole.
He saved his best for the back-nine in the final round, with four birdies - and a bogey - in the final seven holes. The round started with back-to-back bogeys, before he got back to even-pair with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes.
After two birdies and two bogeys on the front-nine, Alker rolled in four straight birdie putts from the 14th to 17th holes during his second round.
At the LIV Golf Chicago tournament, Kiwi Danny Lee finished tied for 30th after an even-par 70 in the final round on Sunday (Monday NZT).
Starting his round at the 16th hole, Lee made bogeys at the first and fourth holes, before back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth, finishing at one-over, 12 shots behind the winner, Spaniard Jon Rahm.
Lee made five birdies, a bogey and double-bogey on his opening hole in a two-under 68 in the second round. His score did not count as his Iron Heads GC team went seven-under, moving up to ninth.
On the second-tier women’s Epson Tour, New Zealand’s Fiona Xu finished tied for 37th at four-under at the Tuscaloosa Classic.
Xu posted a three-under 69 in the third and final round on Sunday (Monday NZT) at the Ol’ Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa , Alabama.
The 19-year-old had five birdies, including three in a five-hole stretch on the back-nine, before back-to-back bogeys to end her round.
Xu dropped another spot to sixth in the Race for the Card standings with two tournaments remaining, with the top-15 earning LPGA cards for 2025.
At the DP World Tour’s Irish Open, Kiwi Sam Jones enjoyed a rather mundane final round but still finished well off the pace.
The Taranaki pro started birdie, double-bogey, then made 16 straight pars in a one-over 72 on Sunday (Monday NZT) at Royal County Down.
Jones finished 66th at 11-over, with an eight-over 79 in the third round, which featured four bogeys and two triple-bogeys, contributing majorly to that.
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