DAVID Howell delivered a hugely improved final 18 holes of his SA Open in Johannesburg to rise up the leaderboard as the tournament concluded today.

Howell, who saw his prospects of making an impact in the tournament all but ended by a horror three-hole run before lightning forced the suspension of third-round play on Saturday, recovered to card a 69 - three under par - in his fourth round.

The Swindon ace added another bogey to his third round, which had already been scarred by a bogey-double-bogey-bogey run from the fourth on Saturday afternoon, when play resumed this morning, eventually signing for a 76.

But the two-time Ryder Cup ace recovered well in his final 18 holes when, starting from the 10th, he posted birdies at the 11th, 13th, 15th and second, with just one blemish at the 12th, to nudge himself back to one under par overall and into the fringes of the top 40 in his first outing of 2016.

Howell will stay in South Africa to contest the Joburg Open, which starts on Thursday.