STUART Archibald recovered from a slow start to claim a top-10 finish at the Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters.

The Basingstoke golfer made the long trip up to Scotland for the second week in a row to compete at the EuroPro Tour event, which was played at Montrose Golf Links.

It looked like it was going to be a wasted trip as he slumped to five-over-par early in his second round, but the 31-year-old then staged a remarkable comeback.

He didn't drop a single shot over the course of his last 33 holes, making 13 birdies to climb the leaderboard in dramatic comeback.

Archibald finished the tournament in a four-way tie for sixth on -8, four shots behind winner James Wilkinson and a single stroke behind four players who shared second place.

Archibald said: "It was a great week of pure links golf in the sun.

"At +5 after 21 holes, it was looking like I would miss the cut. To then play the next 33 holes in -13 and bogey free was awesome."

The Worting man found Montrose Golf Links hard to master on the opening day of the tournament, making just two birdies and dropping shots at five holes in total.

Bogeys at holes 16 and 17 resulted in a three-over-par round of 74, leaving him well down the leaderboard and facing a battle to avoid missing the cut.

Archibald's task became even harder when he made bogeys at holes two and three on day two, leaving him five-over-par with 15 holes of his second round remaining.

However, a run of seven birdies in the space of nine holes, including four in succession between holes five and eight, got him very much back on track, carding a second round of 66 (-5) to survive the cut by two shots.

Archibald continued from where he had left off at the start of the third and final round, making a birdie on the opening hole.

He picked up further shots at holes six, eight, nine, 15 and 17 to complete a bogey-free round of 65 (-6), a score that moved him up to sixth in the final standings.

The result earned Archibald £1,275, moving him up 37 places to 43rd in the EuroPro Tour's Race to Desert Springs standings.

There is no event on the EuroPro Tour this weekend, with Archibald due to make another trip to Scotland for the Mar Hall tournament, which gets under way at Earl of Mar next Wednesday.