Even if he had eagled the last on Sunday, it would not have been enough for Garrick Higgo in the European Tour’s Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open at Aphrodite Hills Resort in Paphos, Cyprus. In the end, he finished in share of third after a closing six-under-par 65.

The tournament was won by Callum Shinkwin, who took his maiden European Tour title in dramatic fashion on the first play-off hole when he made birdie to the par of Finland’s Kalle Samooja. That wasn’t the drama: It was a 54-footer for eagle in regulation play that took him to 20-under for the tournament and forced the Finn to play catch-up on his final few holes.

Higgo had dropped a shot on the 14^th, which had slowed what was looking like a very promising steady climb to the top of the leaderboard. He steadied the ship with a par on 15, and then birdies on 16 and 17 suddenly put him back in the conversation for the title – which would have been his second in 11 starts on the European Tour.

Just ahead of him, Shinkwin had pushed his tee shot on 18 into the right rough, and had a long shot over water to the green on the par-five. He cleared the water and deposited the long approach on the front of the green leaving himself a long, straight, uphill but unlikely putt for eagle and a chance to set a strong clubhouse target at 20-under.

He made the putt, so even though Higgo’s drive was long and down the middle of the 18^th fairway – he had a seven-iron in – an eagle was going to do no more than elevate him to 19-under. His approach was a gem to 10 feet just above the flag, but the putt slid by on the right of the hole and left him at 18-under, and two out of the play-off which Samooja duly forced with a birdie on 18.

In the end, Higgo will be more than happy with his tournament, after he improved his position on the Race to Dubai rankings by 15 positions to 62^nd, putting him within touching distance of a coveted spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship on December 10.

He starts in the second Cyprus tournament next week, and then he has a run of three home tournaments in the Joburg Open, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the SA Open in which to improve and consolidate his position.

In the process, he will also most likely climb in the world rankings. He is currently 117, and looks a sure thing for a year-ending spot inside the top 100 – not bad for a rookie!