Matt Jones has played his way back on to the US PGA Tour on the last day of his season.
The 37-year-old Sydneysider, the 2015 Emirates Australian Open champion and a veteran of the US Tour, rattled home to finish tied-fifth in the Web.com Tour Championship in Florida to secure his card for next season.
It was knife-edge golf; Jones rose a full 30 places on the standings, from 47th to 17th in the time it took to compile a final-round 67. It was his fourth consecutive round in the 60s and left him seven shots behind the winner, American Jonathon Byrd.
But it was enough to put him in the group of 25 who earn cards to play on the main tour next season.
Jones, a one-time winner on the US PGA Tour, lost his rights in 2016.
It was a bittersweet day for the Australians engaged in their last-ditch bid to win a card on the US Tour, with Victorian Cameron Percy finishing tied for 20th in the tournament and narrowly missing out. Percy ended up ranked 29th, just four spots outside where he needed to be.
