KUALA LUMPUR: Nicholas Fung fired his second successive five-under 67 to notch his first Asian Tour top-10 result in nearly three years at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taiwan today.
The 32-year-old carded five birdies in his bogey-free round at the Linkou International Golf & Country Club in New Taipei City to finish in a four-way tie for third on 14-under 274 total.
The feat saw Nicholas match his previous outing in 2016. He cashed in a cool US$32,777 (RM150,000) for his effort.
Another Malaysian, Ben Leong missed out on the top 10 by a whisker after signing for a 70 to tie for 11th on 277.
Nicholas needed a confidence boost after making only six cuts in 11 outings this year.
Thanks to his fine effort, he has jumped 30 rungs to No. 51 in the season-long Asian Tour's Order of Merit standings.
Only the top 60 this season will keep their card for next season.
"I'm very happy with the result," said Nicholas, who won the 2017 Queen's Cup for his sole Asian Tour victory.
"The key to playing well this week was staying patient. I also putted really well. But I can't be too happy yet. I need to keep working hard to keep my Tour card."
Australia's Travis Smyth won after closing with a 66 for 19-under 269 to claim a two-stroke victory over Taiwan's Lee Chieh Po.
Leading final round scores:
269: Travis Symth (Aus) 68-60-66-66;
271: Lee Chieh Po (Tpe) 67-68-69-67;
274: Wang Wei Hsuan (Tpe) 70-68-69-67, Nicholas Fung (Mas) 72-68-67-67, Berry Henson (US) 68-67-71-68, Bjorn Hellgren (Swe) 68-68-69-69;
275: Liu Yen Hung (Tpe) 69-68-69-69;
276: Honey Baisoya (Ind) 71-69-69-67, Ajeetesh Sandhu (Ind) 67-68-73-68, Rashid Khan (Ind) 68-70-70-68;
277: Chan Shih Chang (Tpe) 66-71-74-66, Ben Leong (Mas) 66-73-68-70, Settee Prakongvech (Tha) 69-66-70-72.