David Carey moved up to eighth in the Alps Tour’s Order of Merit when he finished tied 12th in the Red Sea Little Venice Open in Egypt.

Having finished sixth in last week’s Ein Bay Open, the 19-year old followed an opening 75 with a brace of 68s to share 12th at Sokhna Golf Club on the Gulf of Suez, 12 strokes behind Frenchman Franck Daux. 

Scores

Daux closed with a 65 to win in back-to-back weeks, pocketing the top prize of €5,000 for the early lead in the race for five Challenge Tour cards for the leading money winners at the end of the season.

The Frenchman (63-71-65) won by three strokes from England's Matt Wallace (66) on 17 under par and by five from another Englishman in Andrew Jones (63).

Carey picked up €554 and while he was forced to play with a replacement driver, he managed to make 15 birdies in three rounds.

In the final round, he dropped shots at the second and par-five 13th, where he was bunkered greenside and couldn’t hold the green with his third.

But he made amends with six birdies and now heads for the €30,000 Dreamland Pyramids Open at Dreamland Golf Club near Cairo — a 36 hole complex designed by Carl Litten and redesigned by David Jones in 2010.

Carey will be joined at Dreamland by rookie Tommy O’Driscoll from Killarney, who missed the cut in his first two starts as a professional.