Alvaro Quiros was happy to be in contention again after a birdie-birdie finish handed him a runner-up finish at the Trophée Hassan II.
The Spaniard had led after rounds one, two and three at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam but was two over after 13 holes on Sunday before his grandstand finish got him within a shot of winner Alexander Levy.
The 35 year old finished 145th in last season's Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex but is exempt due to his win at the Rocco Forte Open - Verdura, Sicily, although he had only made three of 19 cuts since then coming into this week.
His second place finish is just his third top three since 2011, the last of five consecutive winning seasons on the European Tour that brought his first six wins, and he is happy to be trending in the right direction.
"Second position is my best position for the last 11 months, so I can't complain," he said.
"I was struggling a lot I would say tee-to-green today compared with the last three rounds and my putting, it's been very poor lately. So in that way, it's so difficult to be competitive.
"I have to recognise that the last few holes I holed a couple of putts which gave me a bit of life and the opportunity to finish second, that is always better than third.
"I was conscious about how good I was hitting from tee-to-green and I was conscious about how poor I was putting the first three rounds. So I knew that my long game level has to stay where it was and it wasn't.
"I knew that I was going to struggle and I didn't have luck to be honest putting, otherwise it would be easier to be contending."
Andrea Pavan finished a shot behind Quiros after a 66 on Sunday that matched the lowest round of the week.
This week's tie for third is his best finish in 100 European Tour events, although he does have four Challenge Tour titles, two of them coming as he finished top of the Rankings in 2013.
I've been struggling for quite a few years now and coming in this year I started feeling much better - Andrea Pavan
The Italian is back on the European Tour after coming through the Qualifying School for a second time and is hoping to build on his week in Rabat.
"I've been struggling for quite a few years now and coming in this year I started feeling much better and there's still always room for improvement," he said.
"With not that good of a putter this week, I managed to score under par on this golf course. So it's very satisfying.
"I was outside the cut line with nine holes to go on Friday and then had a strong finish and then played solid yesterday. Played solid again today.
"My iron game was really good and I'm just very pleased. It's a tough course so any time you go under par out here, it's good. Six under on a Sunday, it's a great score."
