EPPING golfer Simon Khan got the new European Tour season off to a strong start with a 21st place finish at the South African Open Championship in Western Cape last week.

Khan won the Qualifying School event in Spain last month to regain his European Tour card after finishing just outside the 115 golfers from the tour that were automatically invited back this season.

Such is the congested nature of the golfing calendar that Khan had just two weeks to recuperate from a gruelling season, capped off by the six-round school tournament in Catalunya.

But, after admitting to the Guardian that he felt in good nick heading into the new season, Khan proved he was as good as his word by finishing with a score of five under par, 13 shots behind eventual winner in South Africa Richie Ramsay.

A four under par score of 68 in the third round propelled Khan into the reckoning, and he followed that up with a score of 71 to finish in a tie for 21st.

It was the second tournament of the new season, but the first for Khan, as he did not compete in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The result at the weekend puts him in 38th place in the Race to Dubai standings.

Meanwhile, things have been going from bad to worse for Chigwell golfer Oliver Fisher, after he failed to make the cut for the second tournament in succession.

The 21-year-old failed to win a place back on the European Tour by missing the cut at the Qualifying School in Spain, but he has been able to secure two entires on the tour already this season.

The first at the Alfred Dunhill was an outing he would rather forget, as his score of 16 over par for the first two rounds saw him down at the bottom of the leaderboard, while he also failed to make the cut in South Africa last week.