Higa finishes tied 11th at Thailand Classic after a modest final round

Kazuki Higa could not finish the way he was hoping for as he ended his campaign at the Thailand Classic with a modest even par 72 and ended joint 11th on Sunday.

Higa, the JGTO prize money king, totalled 14-under 274 as Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen claimed an emphatic four-shot win over Paul Yannik of Germany after shooting 66 for a 24-under 264 total.

Another Japanese representative in the DP World Tour event, Takumi Kanaya carded a solid 69 to tie for 28th spot on 10-under 278.

Higa, who's playing his second DP World Tour event, was disappointed he wasn't able to play well on his back nine.

Higa started the day brilliantly with a pair of birdies on the third and fourth holes, but any he could not make any progress over the next five holes.

On his inward nine, Higa could only mix one birdie with three bogeys to narrowly miss out on the top 10 finish.

"Throughout the four days, I was able to start well every day, but I couldn't quite finish the back-nine strongly," said Higa.

"That's a surprise because I always have the tendency to do finish strong. This week was totally opposite.

"It was disappointing, I couldn't recover after hitting one bogey."

Higa will switch his focus to the India Open next week, which is also a DP World Tour stop.

"My shots aren't bad, but I've heard that next week's course will be very tricky, so I don't know what kind of golf it will be," he said.

"I hope I can rest well and prepare myself for next week. After India, I will return to Japan."

Kanaya, who was crowned the International Series Oman champion on the Asian Tour last week, was pleased with how the week panned out for him despite not being able to put up a stronger challenge.

"I couldn't finish in a good position because I didn't manage to improve my score in the tournament," he said.

"From Saudi to Oman to Thailand this week, it has been a fruitful trip. To return to Japan with a title from Oman, I feel like I'm making a good progress.

"Now, the goal is to build on the victory and  get ven better. I would like to be able to play solid and good every week."