Shaun Norris led a strong South African finish on Sunday with a closing three-under-par 69 for a share of ninth in the DP World Tour’s Ras al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra Golf Club in the UAE.

Norris made three birdies and a bogey through 17 holes, and then rounded off his week with a birdie on the par-five 18^th to climb inside the top 10. He finished the tournament on 15-under-par, ultimately a long way back of the 2-under-par winning total set by Dane Nicolai Hojgaard. Hojgaard won by four strokes from England’s Jordan Smith, with four players in a share of third on 17-under.

Norris shared ninth with Oliver Bekker, who was the leading South African going into the final round. Bekker started his closing round with a birdie, but he dropped three shots on the front nine, on two, three and eight. He then managed to right the ship, and made two pars on the way home on the 13^th and 14^th, but his level-par finish saw him slip from fourth to a share of ninth.

Daniel van Tonder clicked into top gear in the final round with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 vaulting him 28 places up the leaderboard into a share of 13^th. George Coetzee had a one-under-par 71 closer to finish in a share of 27^th on 10-under, and Brandon Stone put his third-round 76 behind him with a 68 to move to nine-under and a share of 35^th. Thriston Lawrence also finished strongly with a five-under 67 to share 53^rd on five-under, Zander Lombard went one-under to finish on four-under in 57^th and Richard Sterne had a two-over 74 to finish 67^th on two-under-par.

Norris climbs 17 places on the DP World Tour rankings to 34^th, while Bekker gets a substantial boost to his campaign by climbing 48 places to 84^th. The leading South African on the rankings is Lawrence, who won the rain-shortened Joburg Open. He slips one spot to 17^th.