Alker is comfortably inside the top 25 on this year's Web.com Tour's money list with only a few weeks left in the season.
The 42-year-old was in 11th but is likely to jump even higher given he was in a tie for second, one shot off the lead, at the halfway mark of the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Missouri, this weekend.
Alker last held a PGA Tour card in 2003 but, despite making 13 cuts from 30 events, including three top-25 finishes, finished 163rd on the money list and lost his card.
From there, he spent three years on the second-tier circuit in the US but couldn't find his winning touch and two forgettable years in Europe in 2007 and 2008 followed before things started to spiral downwards.
Despite winning the New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater in 2009, Alker made only 16 cuts from 75 events on the second-tier tour in the US during 2009-12 as he struggled with his game.
The turning point came when he won the Utah Championship in Sandy last year.
Alker showed he could get the putter working again, although he stumbled in the final weeks of the season and finished one spot away from a return to the PGA Tour.
For many, it would have been a devastating blow. For Alker, it was progress.
"To me, it wasn't too much of a disappointment because I achieved a lot during the year," Alker said. "My game was coming around and I'd won in Utah, got back in the winner's circle, and gave myself a chance."
This year, he's been either hot or not. He'd played 13 events before this weekend on the Web.com Tour and made only six cuts but a victory - via a record-setting 11-hole playoff - at the Cleveland Open in June and a runner-up finish at last month's Boise Open provided the bulk of his earnings.
"I think my striking's been pretty decent most of the year, that hasn't changed too much," Alker said. "It's just getting that week when all your ducks are in a row and holing some more putts."
Alker will play once more during the Web.com Tour's regular season at a new tournament in Oregon later this month and, after that event, should earn one of 25 PGA Tour cards handed out for next season.
He's likely to be one of three New Zealand players on the game's most lucrative circuit, with Danny Lee and Tim Wilkinson set to retain their cards after having steady 2013-14 seasons.
Alker, who turned professional in 1995, will return to the PGA Tour with a greater understanding of his own game. There have been some tough lessons, as well as the occasional highlight which included qualifying for and making the cut at last year's US Open when he claimed a share of 45th.
Alker knows there will be some courses that won't suit him on the PGA Tour but will play in the early weeks of the season, which begins in October, to earn valuable FedEx Cup points and boost his status.
"If you get off to a decent start and earn starts in some more events, you can schedule yourself a bit better."
He's worked hard on getting himself in better physical condition during the past year, targeting his flexibility, and has employed a 'train smarter not harder' approach.
"I've matured a bit in that time," he says of the past decade. "I'm not going to change up any equipment. What's working and what's got me there is working well.
"It's maybe having the expectation-factor going down a bit, just playing my own game. I know I've improved my game in certain areas and I think it's healthier.
"What I'll do when I get on the PGA Tour is enjoy it. I'm not out there to slog it out. I don't need to spend all day on the practice range. I think I know my game a bit more." APNZ
