Gold Coaster Quayle matched the low-round of the tournament to finish third at the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland, rolling in a putt he estimated to be 115 feet from four metres off the front of the 18th green to close out a round of 8-under 63.

His 11-under total held the clubhouse lead for three hours, eventual champion Elvis Smylie (14-under) and runner-up Cameron Smith (12-under) in the final group the only players to move past him by day’s end.

In his 16 most recent starts, Quayle had made just one cut and withdrawn twice, his career stagnating as he struggled with the solitude he experienced as one of very few Aussies playing the Japan Golf Tour this year.

Seeking a sounding board, Quayle turned to Adam Scott’s father, Phil, who advised using the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia to find a pathway back to a major international tour.

“I skipped the last six events in Japan to come back and focus here instead,” said a jubilant Quayle after his Sunday flourish.

“I just wasn’t enjoying it. I wasn’t having fun. I didn’t feel like I was in an environment where I could be the best that I can be.

“I feel like if I can create an environment where I feel happy, I feel confident, I feel comfortable, I feel like I can really kick on and do some really great things.

“Phil Scott actually was pretty crucial in consulting me with a lot of this stuff. He was a massive advocate for me coming back here and playing this tour and committing to this over the next six months as a bit of a re-route in my career.

“Hopefully this is a nice step in the right direction.”

His third-place finish in a tournament co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour certainly sent his world ranking and position on the domestic Order of Merit in the right direction.

The 30-year-old will tee it up at this week’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open ranked 617 in the world (up 260 places) and seventh on the Order of Merit (up 119 spots).

It has suddenly put a DP World Tour card for a top-three Order of Merit finish within reach, and given the two-time PGA Tour of Australasia winner a much-needed injection of confidence.

“The only thing I’m really thinking about right now is just that I feel like my good stuff is good enough and I feel like I just need to be happy and comfortable and confident for that to happen,” added Quayle, who missed the cut at both the Queensland PGA and Ford NSW Open.

“This reaffirms that and it also shows me that I’m not that far away. I don’t feel like I’m a crazy person thinking, yeah, no, it’s not far away, even though the results suggested otherwise.

“It just gives me that trust that I’m doing the right things and it also really reaffirms that I’m the sort of person that loves being around people.

“I’m a social sort of person. I love chatting with people. I love being around people.

“Coming back here these last few weeks playing in Australia, I feel like I have so much support.

“I had so many of my friends come out yesterday and today. It just felt awesome, feeling like I had people around me rather than me just feeling like I’m alone out there.

“It was awesome.”