Former New South Wales Amateur champion Austin Bautista has taken another step towards a permanent place on the European Tour and risen more than 1,000 places in the Official World Golf Rankings courtesy of a top-10 finish at the Austrian Golf Open.

Fresh from proposing to his partner Chiara just two weeks ago and with two wins on US soil already to his name in 2021, Bautista was issued an invitation to tee it up at Diamond Country Club and took full advantage.

Bouncing back from an opening-round 74 to shoot 67 in Round 2 to make the cut, Bautista birdied the 15th and 16th holes in a final round of three-under 69 to finish tied for seventh in just his second start on Europe’s main tour.

As a result, the Bonnie Doon Golf Club member has played his way into the field for this week’s Gran Canaria Lopesan Open in Spain and risen to a career high of 841st in the world rankings, a rise of 1066 spots in a week.

It was a positive return to Europe for Gold Coast-based Victorian Deyen Lawson who matched Bautista’s round of 69 in the final round to finish tied for 33rd with Queenslander Maverick Antcliff the third and final Aussie to make the cut, ending the week tied for 53rd.

The best round of his flourishing PGA TOUR career had Cameron Smith leading after Round 1 of the RBC Heritage tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links but the 2020 Masters runner-up had to settle for a tie for ninth in South Carolina.

After his opening 62, Smith had fallen to just inside the top 30 before the final round, but bounced back with a bogey-free 5-under 66 to rise 18 places and squeeze inside the top 10.

It was another very solid week also for Cameron Davis whose tie for 25th saw him rise five places in the FedEx Cup points race to be 63rd.

A second-round 65 propelled Aaron Baddeley to a tie for fifth at the Korn Ferry Tour’s MGM Championship in Las Vegas, while Hannah Green’s tie for 12th was the best of the Aussies as Kiwi Lydia Ko claimed the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii.

RESULTS

PGA TOUR RBC Heritage Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina T9 Cameron Smith 62-71-74-66—273 $US186,375 T25 Cameron Davis 69-69-70-68—276 $52,274 European Tour Austrian Golf Open Diamond CC, Atzenbrugg, Austria T7 Austin Bautista 74-67-71-69—281 €20,940 T33 Deyen Lawson 77-70-71-69—287 €6,725 T53 Maverick Antcliff 72-74-71-73—290 €4,042 MC Jake McLeod 81-81—162 LPGA Tour Lotte Championship Kapolei Golf Club, Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii 1 Lydia Ko 67-63-65-65—260 $US300,000 T12 Hannah Green 70-67-66-68—271 $31,197 T27 Su Oh 73-68-66-67—274 $16,152 MC Minjee Lee 71-71—142 MC Gabriela Ruffels 70-72—142 MC Katherine Kirk 69-74—143 MC Sarah Jane Smith 75-70—145 Korn Ferry Tour MGM Resorts Championship Paiute Golf Resort (Sun Mountain Course), Las Vegas, Nevada T5 Aaron Baddeley 71-65-73-70—279 $US20,100 T35 Harrison Endycott 75-66-70-73—284 $3,450 T52 Brett Coletta 69-72-72-75—288 $2,538 T69 Rhein Gibson 72-67-79-76—294 $2,334 MC Jamie Arnold 72-71—143 MC Steven Alker 72-71—143 MC Brett Drewitt 72-71—143 MC Ryan Ruffels 75-70—145 MC Curtis Luck 76-72—148 MC Robert Allenby 80-73—153 MC Nick Voke 82-72—154 Symetra Tour Casino Del Sol Golf Classic Sewailo Golf Club, Tucson, Arizona T60 Robyn Choi 71-73-76-75—295 $690 T62 Hira Naveed 76-69-71-80—296 $670 MC Stephanie Na 74-74—148 MC Soo Jin Lee 76-75—151 MC Julienne Soo 79-73—152 Champions Tour Chubb Classic Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Florida T32 Rod Pampling 76-70-69—215 $US10,560 T32 David McKenzie 69-69-77—215 $10,560 T44 Stephen Leaney 70-75-72—217 $5,600