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EUROPEAN TOUR rookie Rob Dinwiddie jetted out of China last night with the satisfaction of his highest finish slightly tinged with disappointment.

A tied third place finish in the BMW Asian Open was enough to claim a pay cheque of £60,000.

And, with his season's earnings standing at around £112,000, his performance over the four days in Shanghai has put him to within £60,000 of the initial target he set himself at the start of the year which he feels will b enough to to retain his Tour card.

"I have to try to set my sights on more," said the 25-year-old.

"Things have been going well at different stages this season but I still know I'm capable of playing better. I could have won here."

Dinwiddie was in contention with the leaders when he made the cut on Friday. There were genuine hopes of glory when he carded a stunning 66, six under, on Saturday - which also included a double bogey at the seventh.

The promising situation, however, bordered on disastrous on Sunday morning. The Barnard Castle golfer hit the turn with a 39 after four bogeys in his opening nine holes. A birdie at the second and a further one at the 15th, though, kept him towards the top of the leaderboard.

There was also frustration on the final day for eventual winner Darren Clarke (74), but Dinwiddie ran out of time to catch the Northern Irishman.

Clarke claimed the title by ending three ahead of the North-East golfer, while Dutchman Robert Jan- Derksen finished second, two shots shy of the winner.

Nevertheless it was a second top ten finish in four outings for Dinwiddie, after he ended up sixth in the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia last month.

A n d Dinwid - die said: "I'm really happy, although I would have hoped to have played a bit better into the green. It was a scramble in the end.

"But third is decent for me and I have to be happy with that - even if it is tinged with slight disappointment.

"I have always wanted to be in contention to win events on the European Tour and that's exactly what I was. It might be a little annoying but it has shown me again that I'm doing things right and that I can win on the Tour."

Clarke hailed his e m o t i o n a l l y - charged victory as the best of his illustrious career.

It has been five years since his last victory on the European Tour and was also his first since his wife Heather passed away in 2006.

It was always going to be a difficult hurdle for me to get back to winning ways after Heather had passed away,'' said Clarke.

My mind started going from about 14 onwards and I lost my concentration and started thinking about Heather and the boys and if you can't keep your concentration for the whole way round you make mistakes.

But on the last hole I gathered myself and hit a good putt and luckily it went in. This is the very top. I have been working harder than I have ever worked before on all aspects of my game.

I have been putting in ninehour days and it is nice to see it pay off. It is a big mental hurdle that I have overcome.'' Clarke is looking to return to the sort of form that saw him become the only player apart from Tiger Woods to capture more than one World Golf Championship title.

After the death of his wife, Heather, Clarke understandably had a difficult season in 2007. But he turned a corner at the end of the year when he finished third at the South African Airways Open in December. And the Ulsterman admits it has been a frustrating wait to return to winning ways on the European Tour.

There have been frustrations,'' he added. It is like in anybody's job where if you work and work but don't see a tangible difference it gets very difficult.

That is what has happened with me as I have been working away and not seeing results.

But you persevere and keep on going and sometimes things go your way and they did for me on the last green.'' Despite being denied a third European Tour victory, Robert Jan Derksen refused to dwell on his defeat and instead paid tribute to Clarke.

It was a great match,'' said the 34-year-old. I thought it could be between the two of us as the wind was up and it would be difficult for the others to catch.

My up and down on the 18 was very good and I don't make that quite often but then Darren holed a good putt and that's his luck and it is his day.'' World number 13 Henrik Stenson, the highest-ranked player at the tournament, produced a great final round with a fourunder- par 68 to finish sixth.

9:18am Monday 28th April 2008

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