His closing one-over-par 73 on Sunday saw MJ Viljoen finish in a share of third place in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil in France.

Viljoen led through 54 holes on 12-under-par heading into the final round, but dropped shots on six and 18 saw him slip out of contention, despite a birdie on the eighth.

Hi performance was still good enough to lift him four places on the Road to Mallorca rankings of the tour to eighth. The top 15 players at the end of the season-ending Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca gain promotion to the DP World Tour.

In the end, Julien Sale made history by becoming the first player from France to win the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge as he secured his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title.

The Frenchman carded a final round four under par 68 to reach 12 under par, a birdie on the 72nd hole taking him one shot clear of Denmark’s Hamish Brown. Behind Sale and Brown in a tie for third were Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise and Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, England’s Alfie Plant, Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen, and Viljoen on 10-under-par.

Had Viljoen been able to hold on, it would have been his second win of the season. Should he win three times, he would gain automatic promotion to the DP World Tour.