Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox has recorded his best result of 2021, finishing tied for fourth at the Andalucia Masters in Spain.
Fox, 34, fired a final-round two-under-par 69 to finish two-under for the tournament, four shots behind winner Matt Fitzpatrick of England.
The Auckland native fell out of contention for the title, after a misfiring three-over-par third round.
"I'm really happy," Fox says. "I made a couple of silly mistakes over the weekend, but I'm really happy with how I played today and how I played all week, considering this is a golf course that has beaten me up in the past."
Fox has now secured his tour card for next year and is scheduled to play one more tournament in Spain next week, before returning home with securing a managed isolation voucher for December.
He is yet to qualify for the season-ending tournament in Dubai, but says unless the MIQ situation changes in New Zealand, he won't attend, regardless of his qualification status.
"It's been a frustrating year off the golf course and that's probably not helped me play well on the golf course, but the two things of having enough points and securing an MIQ spot for the end of the year kind of took the pressure off.
"It's amazing how much that frees you up on the golf course. It's been nice, the last couple of weeks, to be a bit more carefree, and it's certainly shown in how I've played and how I've scored."
"Getting a second MIQ spot before Christmas would be almost impossible and I would feel bad taking up another spot in the lottery, with thousands of Kiwis trying to get home anyway."
Fox has played 19 tournaments this year, but only secured his 2022 playing rights a few weeks ago.
"I feel like everything's been really close for a while and this was a week where everything seemed to click," he says. "My short game was pretty solid, I hit my irons nicely and drove the ball well, which is important around here, and I putted pretty well, so it was nice to put four rounds together.
"It was nice to secure a job for next year a couple of weeks ago and then the higher up the Order of Merit I finish, the better, as there are a couple of shorter-field events next year that I'll hopefully get into.
"It was nice to help that today and I have one more week in Mallorca to hopefully finish off my season on a high."
