New Zealand golfer Sam Jones has continued his strong start to the Challenge Tour.
Jones moved to sixth in the second-tier European tour's Road to Mallorca rankings after three tournaments played, following a tie for fourth at the Cape Town Open in South Africa over the weekend.
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The Taranaki left-hander posted rounds of two-under 70, three-under 69, three-under 69 and two-under 70 at the Royal Cape Golf Club, finishing the week at 10-under, four strokes behind the winner, England's Jamie Rutherford.
Jones steadily moved up the leaderboard over the final two rounds after sitting in a share of 17th at the cut. He climbed seven spots in the final round on Sunday (Monday NZ Time) after making four birdies and two bogeys.
Starting the day three shots back, Jones made birdies at the third and sixth holes, both par-fours, to get into contention but gave a shot back at the ninth. On the back-nine, he made birdies at the 12th and 16th holes, and a bogey at the 14th.
The 28-year-old has finished T13 at the MyGolfLife Open and T30 at the SDC Open, both in South Africa, over the last two weeks.
On the top European tour, the DP World Tour, Kiwi Daniel Hillier slipped outside the top-20 during the final round of the Qatar Masters.
Hillier carded a two-over 74 at the Doha Golf Club on Sunday (Monday NZT) to drop nine places into a share of 25th at three-under, 13 strokes back of the champion, China's Li Haotong.
With two birdies and two bogeys elsewhere in his round, a double-bogey at the par-three 17th proved costly, although, he did manage his fourth top-25 in five DP World Tour events this season.
It was a similar story for New Zealand No 1 Ryan Fox at the PGA Tour's Phoenix Open.
Fox produced a one-over 72 in the fourth round on Sunday (Monday NZT), dropping 11 spots to a tie for 63rd at three-under overall, 21 strokes behind the runaway winner, Belgian Thomas Detry.
The 37-year-old started his round from the 10th hole with birdie-double-bogey-bogey to immedidately drop back. He produced birdies at the 15th, 18th and first holes but chased it with bogeys at the second and seventh.
Across the USA, veteran Lydia Ko and rookie Fiona Xu have both finished tied for 48th at the LPGA's Founders Cup in Florida.
Both golfers carded even-par 71s during the final round at the Bradenton Country Club on Sunday (Monday NZT), finishing at one-under overall, 20 shots behind the winner, American Yealimi Noh.
Ko opened her round with 11 straight pars, before a bogey at the 12th, followed by a birdie at the 16th, while Xu had a busy front-nine, with two birdies and two bogeys, before closing with 10 consecutive pars.