GRAEME STORM’S superb season continued as a final round of 68 secured him a lucrative top-ten finish at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Storm finished in a tie for sixth position as his final-day score of four under left him at seven under for the championship, just four shots adrift of Swede Alex Noren, who claimed the title.

Storm carded six birdies as he raced up the leaderboard yesterday, with his final round matching the 68 he posted on the opening day of the tournament.

The Hartlepool golfer won £160,930 for tying in sixth, and having started last week in 40th position in the Race to Dubai rankings, he is set to rise into the top-25.

He is enjoying one of the best spells of his career, having claimed his second European Tour title when he beat Rory McIlroy in a play-off to land the South African Open in January.

He was in excellent form yesterday, but like the rest of the field, was outshone by Noren, who carded a remarkable final round of 62 to win his fifth European Tour title in the space of 11 months.

Noren overturned a seven-shot deficit as he fired eight birdies and a final-hole eagle to establish a new course record on the revamped West Course, which underwent a £5m renovation programme immediately after last year's event.

That took the 34-year-old to 11 under par and set a clubhouse target none of the later starters were able to match, Noren having teed off almost two hours before the final group.

Open champion Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry, Hideto Tanihara, Andrew Dodt and Branden Grace were in a five-way tie on nine under early on the back nine, but faded on the closing stretch to leave Noren to collect the first prize of £894,000.

Italy's Francesco Molinari birdied the final two holes to finish second on nine under, a shot ahead of Stenson, Tanihara and Nicolas Colsaerts, who also eagled the 18th in his 65.

Noren, who won four times in 11 events last season, began the day seven shots off the lead after a double-bogey on the 18th on Saturday, but raced to the turn in 31 and picked up further birdies on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th.

He saved the best till last, however, rifling a five-iron approach from 204 yards which finished just four feet from the pin to set up a decisive eagle on the 18th.

Playing partner Peter Uihlein labelled it, “the best round of golf I've ever seen” and Noren conceded it "probably" was, adding: "And I putted probably the best I've ever putted.

“It's a tough course mentally coming down the stretch. It's not super narrow, but it's just if you hit it a little bit wayward it can cost you.

“I wasn't thinking much of the deficit. I was just trying to play a good round of golf and get into next week (the Nordea Masters in Sweden) on a high.

“I was pretty angry after the third round and then took a long rest and tried to just have a good day. I came out holing putts on one and two, so anything can happen from there.”