GRAEME STORM has lost his European Tour card by just 100 euros - after a nailbiting end to the season for the Hartlepool pro.

He came within a whisker of climbing into the coveted top 110 in the Race to Dubai rankings and his face on the 18th green told a frustrating story at the Portugal Masters. He is now planning for a crack at Tour School.

He had worked his way into a fantastic position over the four rounds, climbing into contention for his card in Vilamoura.

That included three birdies on the back nine which had put him on the verge of achieving his goal.

But he bogeyed the 18th to drop down to an impressive -15 under for the tournament that left him nervously waiting on the performances of others.

And in the end his 67, four under for the day, was not enough to earn him the right to play with full playing privileges on the Tour next year.

There was also disappointment for Barnard Castle's Rob Dinwiddie, who also had a good four days but that was not enough. He finished on ten under but was shy of his card.

Chris Paisley, from Stocksfield, will be on Tour next year after an impressive end to 2016. His final round four under took him up to -20 in Portugal and that cemented his place in the top 100.

The Portugal Masters was own by Padraig Harrington who produced a closing bogey-free 65 to win his first European Tour title in eight years.

The Irishman came into the final day in Vilamoura trailing overnight leaders Anders Hansen and Mikko Korhonen by a shot but it was defending champion Andy Sullivan who emerged as his nearest challenger.

Sullivan won the event by nine shots last season and made a big charge once again, picking up birdies on four of his first five holes on his way to a 22 under par total.

Harrington found himself three shots off the lead at one point but after turning in 33, a holed bunker shot on the 11th sparked a run of three birdies in four holes to move him ahead.

Sullivan joined him at the summit with a birdie on the 17th but Harrington repeated the feat on the par five and held his nerve down the last after getting a fortunate bounce off a spectator gallery.

The win is Harrington's 15th on the European Tour and his first since he won his third major at the US PGA Championship in 2008. His last win on the PGA Tour came at the Honda Classic in March last year.

"I haven't won yet this year, so I know the year is nearly done, it's always important to get a win every year, a winning year," he said.

"It's a big win. Portugal Masters is a big tournament. I've been coming here for 10 years so I've always liked it down here. I've always liked coming down to Portugal.

"I tried to be really aggressive. The golf course suited me and I just tried to go after every pin I could and make birdies. I have a pretty good short game that was on form this week."

Semi-retired Dane Anders Hansen and Finn Mikko Korhonen were tied for third at 21 under, with English duo Robert Rock and Chris Paisley, and Scot Paul Lawrie in the group a further shot back.

This was the final week for players to get into the top 111 in the Race to Dubai and keep their cards for next season, with Korhonen, England's Oliver Fisher and Australian Jason Scrivener knocking England's Eddie Pepperell, Scot Craig Lee and South African Zander Lombard out of a spot.