A gutsy fightback from a Canadian Open final round collapse has given Australian teenager Ryan Ruffels belief that he can take his next opportunity with both hands.
Ruffels began Sunday's last round at the US PGA Tour's Toronto stop in title contention, just three shots off the pace, but he plummeted down the leaderboard with five bogeys and two double-bogeys in his first 14 holes.
But Melbourne native Ruffels rallied with an eagle and two birdies in his closing three holes to salvage a tie for 32nd place at Glen Abbey golf course.
"I know there's ticker and there's fight in me. I'm very disappointed, but I'll learn a lot from it," Ruffels told AAP.
"I'm 19 years old, playing on the PGA Tour. I know the next time I get myself into a position like that I'll be a lot better off for it. I look forward to it."
The former amateur star signed for a four-over-par 76 and his 10-under total left him a distant 11 shots from a sudden-death playoff won by Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas.
Vegas fired a brilliant 65 to join Charley Hoffman (68) at 21-under in regulation, before defeating the American with a birdie at the par-5 18th in sudden-death.
English veteran Ian Poulter stormed home with a 64 to take outright third at 20 under.
With seven cuts made from 13 career starts on Tour, Ruffels says he's finding his groove on the big stage.
However, his slide down the leaderboard leaves him in a precarious position.
Ruffels, who plays primarily on the PGA Tour's third-tier South American circuit, has accrued only 35 FedEx Cup points from six events on the top Tour this season.
With the regular season concluding at the Wyndham Championship in two weeks, Ruffels needs to finish inside the top-200 on the FedEx Cup to book a spot in the secondary Web.com Tour finals, where he can play his way back to the main stage.
He is now equal 215th on the season-long points race and is hoping to secure one last sponsor's tournament invitation, either at this week's Barracuda Championship or the Wyndham event.
"If I get into one of these last few events, I feel I can have a big week and sneak my way into Web playoffs," said Ruffels.
Earlier, fellow Australians Cameron Percy (73, three-under) and Brett Drewitt (77, one-over) struggled in their final rounds.
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