New Zealand golfer Fiona Xu has taken over the top spot in the Epson Tour season standings.
Xu finished tied for fifth at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic in Pendleton, Oregon on Sunday (Monday NZ Time), overtaking American Jessica Porvasnik in the Race for the Card standings after 14 of 20 tournaments.
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With the top-15 after the Epson Tour Championship in October earning full status on the LPGA Tour for 2025, Xu is in a strong position to join Lydia Ko.
The 19-year-old Aucklander now has 1135.200 points, ahead of Porvasnik, who finished tied for 51st in Oregon, on 1111.102, while ex Canterbury golfer Juliana Hung, a New Zealand Youth Olympian now playing under the flag of her native Taiwan, in 15th on 698.106.
Xu fired three consecutive five-under 67s at the Wildhorse Golf Course to finish at 15-under, six strokes behind the winner, Thai Pornanong Phatlum, who made nine birdies in a final-round eight-under 64.
Xu surged to the lead early in the final round after three straight birdies to start her round, then an eagle at the par-five fifth.
Despite birdies at the 11th and 15th holes to get to 17-under, Xu could not keep pace with Phatlum, before a double-bogey at the par-four 18th dropped her from fourth into a six-way share of fifth.
It was Xu's third top-five of the season, following her maiden victory - and Epson Tour scoring record at 22-under - at the Copper Rock Championship in May, and a runner-up finish at the IOA Championship in April.
Hung missed the cut in Oregon by two shots at two-under, dropping three places in the Race for the Card standings, while Kiwi Amelia Garvey ended tied for 39th at eight-under after rounds of 71, 68 and 69.
On the PGA Tour Champions, Steven Alker slipped four spots to finish sixth at the Rogers Charity Classic on Sunday (Monday NZT).
Despite the even-par 70 in the final round at the Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club in Calgary, Alberta, Alker dropped from second entering the last day after three birdies, a bogey and double-bogey.
Alker remained at 12-under, five shots behind the winner, American Ken Tanigawa, but was able to close the gap on Ernie Els and Stephen Ames at the top of the Charles Schwab Cup standings, with nine tournaments remaining.
The 53-year-old started with a bogey at the first, before birdies at the fourth and 11th holes, both par-fives, gave him a chance. But a double-bogey at the par-four 13th ended his hopes, despite a birdie at the next hole.
At the LIV Golf Greenbrier tournament, Danny Lee finished in a share of 15th at 11-under after rounds of 68, 66 and 65.
At scene of his only PGA Tour victory in 2015 at the Old White TPC course in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Lee made seven birdies, including four in a row, and two bogeys in his five-under 65 on Sunday (Monday NZT).
On the DP World Tour, rookie Sam Jones missed the cut at the Czech Masters in Prague, Czechia, by one stroke. He made five birdies and two bogeys in an opening round 69, and four birdies and four bogeys in an even-par 72.
At the PGA Tour Americas' Saskatchewan Open, Harry Hillier finished tied for 28th after a final round one-under 69 on Sunday (Monday NZT), while brother Charlie Hillier missed the cut by two shots.
Harry Hillier was in the top-10 after rounds of two-over 72 and a blistering eight-under 62, featuring an eagle, nine birdies and three bogeys, but could not continue on at the weekend, with rounds of two-under 68 and 69.
He finished at nine-under, eight shots behind the winner, Canadian AJ Ewart, to remain sixth in the Fortinet Cup standings and in a strong position to earn a Korn Ferry Tour card for 2025. Charlie Hillier had similar rounds of one-under 69.
On the Ladies European Tour (LET) Access Series, Kiwi Wenyung Keh finished tied for 50th at 11-over at the Gotland Ladies Open in Sweden after rounds of 70, 75 and 76, while Munchin Keh missed the cut by four, also at 11-over, after rounds of 75 and 76.