Nitties's score of 16-under 272 at the Puerto Rico Open in March landed the 27-year-old in third spot with a prizemoney purse of $US168,000 ($180,000).

Sunday's effort of of eight-under 272 at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro left him 12 shots behind the winner, India's Arjun Atwal, in 64th spot with a cheque of $US10,812.

Nitties kicked off the Wyndham Championship with a three-under 67 and two-under 68.

Four birdies on the front nine in the third round had Nitties on track to challenge for a top-five spot when he ended round three with a score of 66.

Day four proved his undoing when he sunk two birdies to card a one-over 72.

Nitties has made the cut 12 times in 25 tour events this year and reached the top 10 on four occasions to be ranked 134th.

He finished 94th after his first year on the tour in 2009 and made the cut 15 times from 27 events.

Toronto's Nathan Green failed to make the cut after he carded a one-under 69 and a one-over 71.

¦ Golf prodigy Jake Higginbottom returned from the United States yesterday with invaluable experience after competing in the Scratch Players Championships last week.

The 16-year-old from Charlestown finished 13-over 229 from the three rounds he played at Gig Harbour near Seattle.

Higginbottom was the youngest competitor in the event.

He missed the cut for the final round but was happy with his performance.

"I just take it as a learning experience and just try to do better next time," he said.

Higginbottom qualified for the event due to his ranking among the top 300 amateur players in the world.

The next overseas trip for Higginbottom will be in October when he flies to Tokyo for the Asian Amateur.

¦ Belmont's Aliza Huff made a solid start to her week at the All Australian State Golf Championships at Port Macquarie yesterday by finishing sixth in the girls strokeplay.

The 16-year-old battled morning rain to card five-over 78 in the first round before dropping further back with 80 in the second round.

Huff's performance placed her third in the NSW's rankings.

Charlestown's Brayden Petersen had a difficult day in the boys shooting 84 and 80 to be well off the pace.

The pair will represent NSW in the matchplay over the next three days.