Rub of the greens denies David Drysdale chance of maiden tour victory

The 34-year-old, who had started the final day at the DLF Golf and Country Club a shot off the pace on a crowded leaderboard, went out in three-under-par to assume pole position.

However, a damaging brace of bogeys at 13 and 15 halted the Scot's charge and, despite responding with a birdie at the 16th, the former Challenge Tour winner was left to reflect on what might have been as he finished joint third.

"You can't putt the way that I did over the weekend and win tournaments at this level, simple as that," said Drysdale, who picked up a cheque for over 62,000 which lifted him to 27th spot on the tour's Race to Dubai rankings.

"The grainy greens have caught me out again, I have never been able to read them properly and it was the same again this week but at least I got myself into contention. I've missed plenty of cuts in this part of the world because of grainy greens, so there is some encouragement."

With Englishman Richard Finch having set the clubhouse target of 13-under, Drysdsale came to the last, a par-5, needing a birdie to join him. However, after finding the green with an excellent approach, he three-putted from distance. As it was, Australian Andrew Dodt posted a winning 14-under-par total shortly afterwards as he got up and down from a bunker to birdie the last for a closing 68.

"Overall it has been a pretty good week for me," added Drysdale. "I came here very unsure of my equipment, but I am leaving with a lot of confidence in my new clubs. Maybe not so much the long irons but from the 6-iron up I felt more comfortable than I have all year. I really didn't expect to be in contention at the start of the week, so it is has been a good week."

Starting the day one off the lead shared by seven players, 24-year-old Dodt bagged five birdies against one bogey to finish a shot ahead of Finch. "I can't describe the feeling that I have now," he said. "To win a professional golf tournament is absolutely huge. I've come close a few times and to actually pull it off is a dream come true. This win is going to open a few doors for me. I managed to hold on to my nerves today and I got the job done."

The lead changed hands several times with Finch's spectacular six-under 66 at one point threatening to complete an unexpected triumph for the Hull golfer.

However, after reaching the turn three-under for the day, Dodt overcame a bogey at the 11th with what eventually proved to be crucial birdies at the 16th and the last – the latter coming after he found the sand – to deny Finch. "It was a huge relief when I birdied the 18th," he said. "I had a pretty good lie on the rough and I was in between clubs. I decided to be more aggressive and hit a pretty good shot but it just didn't turn. The bunker was fine and I managed to hit a good one."

Dodt's previous best finish was a tie for ninth at last year's Singapore Open and having recently taken up Affiliate Membership of the European Tour, now finds himself thrust into the top 10 in the early Race to Dubai standings.

Colville Park's Steven O'Hara holed his second shot at the par-four seventh on his way to a 69 and shared eighth place on 278 while South African Open champion Richie Ramsay hit a 70 for 279 and tied 14th. Fifer Peter Whiteford posted his fourth 70 of a consistent week to finish inside the top 20 on an eight-under 280. Andrew Coltart came in on the 285 mark after a closing 71.

FINAL TOTALS

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

274 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 68 71 68

275 Richard Finch 69 69 71 66

276 Richard Bland 68 71 66 71, David Drysdale 68 67 71 70, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 73 62 70 71, Barry Lane 67 67 71 71

277 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 71 66 72

278 Yin-shin Chan (Tpe) 65 68 72 73, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 71 70 66 71, Darren Clarke 71 66 70 71, Steven O'Hara 69 73 67 69, Oliver Fisher 70 67 71 70, Jason Knutzon (USA) 70 67 72 69

279 Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 67 69 69 74, Richie Ramsay 71 68 70 70, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 68 67 74 70, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 67 68 74 70

280 Sung Lee (Kor) 71 65 73 71, Peter Whiteford 70 70 70 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 70 68 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 72 67 71 70, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 71 69 71 69

281 Darren Beck (Aus) 70 65 70 76, Kwanchai Tannin (Hkg) 68 68 70 75, Marcel Siem (Ger) 64 73 70 74, Wen-hong Lin (Chn) 68 70 69 74

Other score:

285 Andrew Coltart 69 74 71 71