Hennie du Plessis climbed 17 places on the Challenge Tour rankings with his share of fourth in the Big Green Egg German Challenge at Wittelsbacher Golfclub in Neuburg an der Donau on Sunday.

Du Plessis carded a closing one-under par 70 to finish the tournament on nine-under, three off the winner Angel Hidalgo of Spain. Hidalgo was two clear of his countryman Santiago Tarrio and Austria’s Lukas Nemecz. Du Plessis’ total means he climbs to 31^st on the Challenge Tour rankings, and closer to the top 20 who will earn their European Tour cards at the end of the season.

Du Plessis got it to 11-under with his third birdie of his final round on the 14^th, but he stumbled up the stretch with bogeys on 17 and 18.

Jacques Blaauw closed with a two-under 69 to be one-over for the tournament in a share of 43^rd, and Mathiam Keyser had a closing two-over 73 to be two-over in a share of 47^th.