Finch heads back to qualifying school in order to retain card

Sheffield’s Danny Willett fired weekend rounds of 68, 69 to finish third on eight under par and two shots out of the play-off - eventually won by Korea’s Jin Jeong.

Hull’s Richard Finch, who needed to place in the top three to have any chance of retaining full playing privileges for next season, finished seventh.

It was his best performance of the year, but the 72 he shot yesterday saw him drop out of contention.

Finch earned 38,000 euros from the performance, climbing from 136th to 125th on the Race to Dubai standings.

He needed to finish in the top 110 to retain his card for a 10th season.

He missed out by 42,000 euros and has to go back to qualifying school in Spain next month.

The performance of Willett is very timely as it sees him climb 15 places to 55th on the coveted money list.

That gets him into the field for this week’s BMW Masters in Shanghai, the first event of the European Tour’s play-off series.

Prior to Perth, Willett had been a reserve and only certain of a place in the third event of the lucrative series in Turkey.

But his best result of the year has opened the door to him to play in three of the four play-off events, culminating in the Dubai World Championship on November 14.

Jin Jeong defeated Ross Fisher in a play-off to claim overall victory.

Jeong, 23, prevailed at the first extra hole to claim his first European Tour title after the pair had finished tied on 10 under par after the final round.

The South Korean would not have been expecting to end with the title after a nightmare start to his final round that saw him double-bogey the first.

He recovered with birdies at the fourth and fifth, and as overnight leader Brody Ninyette saw his challenge falter with three bogeys over the final six holes, Jeong hit the front after further gains at the 11th, 12th and 15th.

Fisher hit six birdies against two bogeys on his way to a 68, but after taking Jeong to a play-off the Englishman quickly came unstuck on the return trip down the 18th when his approach shot went through the green, leaving his rival two putts to wrap up his maiden title.

Ninyette’s late collapse saw him card a level-par 70 to leave him in a tie for third place alongside fellow Australian Dimitrios Papadatos and Willett.

Rory McIlroy shot a final-round 67 to claim a share of second place at the Kolon Korea Open.

The Northern Irishman, who had fallen 10 shots behind the lead after three rounds, carded five birdies in his four-under-par round to end one behind winner Kang Sung-hoon.