By Tony Webeck

Queensland’s Robyn Choi logged her sixth top-10 finish of the Epson Tour season as Adam Bland recorded his second top-10 in his past three starts on the Japan Golf Tour.

The cornerstone of Choi’s tie for sixth at the Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic in Alabama was a course record 10-under 62 on day one to establish a two-stroke lead.

The 24-year-old dropped away with a three-over 75 in the second round, bouncing back to post 69 on Sunday as she seeks to earn one of 10 LPGA Tour cards on offer at season’s end.

She began the week 14th in the Race to the Card standings yet despite a top-10 finish fell back a spot to 15th, winner Celine Borge and runner-up Hyo Joon Jang both moving ahead of her.

Gabriela Ruffels dropped from 11th to 14th despite finishing tied for 17th while Grace Kim remains in fourth position heading into this week’s Epson Tour Championship finale.

The resurgence of South Australian Adam Bland continues in Japan.

Bland’s tie for eighth at the ANA Open two weeks ago was his best result on the Japan Golf Tour in almost five years, maintaining his stellar play at the Vantelin Tokai Classic in Aichi.

The 42-year-old had four birdies and two bogeys in his closing round of two-under 69 to lead the way for the Aussies, Anthony Quayle (73) and Brad Kennedy also finishing inside the top 20.

If it was an otherwise quiet week for the Aussies around the world, our New Zealand neighbours continue to excel.

Three-time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner Ryan Fox became the first Kiwi to win in Scotland since Simon Owen in 1976, recording a one-stroke win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

It was an emotional win for Fox who paid tribute to great mate Shane Warne, the late Aussie cricket legend finishing second alongside Fox in the teams event just 12 months ago.

A final round of six-under 65 saw Lydia Ko finish third at The Ascendant LPGA event in Texas and, a week after his second win on the Challenge Tour, Daniel Hillier finished fourth at the Hopps Open de Provence to climb to seventh in the Road To Mallorca standings with just three events left in the season.

Results

DP World Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Scotland Winner Ryan Fox (NZ)    66-74-65-68—273           €801,654.72 T36        David Micheluzzi             69-73-70-71—283           €31,123.07 T61        Maverick Antcliff             68-74-72-75—289           €12,967.94 MC        Daniel Gale        70-73-74—217 MC        Geoff Ogilvy       66-76-75—217 MC        Louis Dobbelaar              70-79-69—218 MC        Aaron Pike          73-76-69—218 MC        Jediah Morgan  71-76-72—219 MC        Blake Windred  70-77-72—219 MC        Jordan Zunic      71-76-73—220 MC        Nathan Barbieri 69-77-75—221 MC        Zach Murray      71-80-72—220 MC        Josh Armstrong 69-85-73—227 MC        Austin Bautista  72-81-75—228 MC        Scott Hend         75-82-71—228

PGA TOUR Sanderson Farms Championship The Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi Winner Mackenzie Hughes         71-63-68-69—271 Won on second hole of sudden death playoff       MC        Harrison Endycott           73-74—147

Asian Tour Mercuries Taiwan Masters Taiwan Golf and Country Club, Chinese Taipei Winner Chan Shih-chang             68-68-69—68    273        $US200,000 T13        Scott Strange     68-72-71-73—284           $14,500 T18        Kevin Yuan         71-70-73-72—286           $11,000 T39        Sam Brazel         71-73-76-71—291           $6,642.86 T39        Daniel Fox          68-74-75-74—291           $6,642.86 T49        Jake Higginbottom          76-70-74-74—294           $4,850 MC        Travis Smyth      71-76—147 MC        Ben Eccles          73-76—149

LPGA Tour The Ascendant LPGA Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas Winner Charley Hull       67-64-71-64—266           $US255,000 3            Lydia Ko (NZ)     70-66-67-65—268           $112,302 T34        Karis Davidson  70-70-71-71—282           $10,425 MC        Stephanie Kyriacou         71-75—146 MC        Su Oh    79-69—148 MC        Sarah Jane Smith             73-75—148

Japan Golf Tour Vantelin Tokai Classic Miyoshi Country Club (West Cse), Aichi Winner Riki Kawamoto  69-67-66-69—271           ¥22m T9          Adam Bland       69-68-73-69—279           ¥2,772,000 T13        Anthony Quayle              69-66-72-73—280           ¥1,974,500 T17        Michael Hendry (NZ)      72-72-65-72—281           ¥1,617,000 T19        Brad Kennedy    67-73-70-72—282           ¥1,216,285 T29        Matthew Griffin              71-71-71-71—284           ¥737,000 MC        Brendan Jones  72-76—148 MC        Andrew Evans   73-75—148

Challenge Tour Hopps Open de Provence Golf International de Pont Royal, Mallemort, France Winner Joel Sjoholm      68-71-65-67—271           €40,000 4            Daniel Hillier (NZ)            70-66-70-69—275           €15,000

Epson Tour Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic Ol’ Colony Golf Course, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Winner Celine Borge      67-71-63—201  $US30,000 T6          Robyn Choi        62-75-69—206  $5,856 T17        Gabriela Ruffels 68-74-68—210  $2,639 T29        Amelia Garvey (NZ)         69-71-72—212  $1,702 T44        Grace Kim           75-67-73—215  $1,077 MC        Hira Naveed       72-74—146 MC        Emily Mahar      75-77—152 MC        Soo Jin Lee         79-77—156