DAVID Howell finished under-par at the Omega European Masters after closing the tournament with a one-under final round of 69 on Sunday as Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg claimed victory in a play-off.

That was the same overall score the Swindon star had found himself on after Thursday’s opening round, with Howell unable to improve his total after following it up with a level-par 70 in the second round and one-over 71 in the third.

However, Howell returned to an under-par performance on the final day of action at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Switzerland to finish in a tie for 63rd place on the leaderboard.

Although well out of contention, the result marks just the fourth time that the 44-year-old has made the cut from 17 events on the European Tour this season.

Soderberg emerged victorious from a five-man play-off after he, Rory McIlroy Kalle Samooja, Andres Romero and Lorenzo Gagli all finished on 14-under.

The quintet all played the 18th hole again, where Soderberg was the only one to birdie and take the title.

Howell’s final-day score only came courtesy of a strong fightback, with the Broome Manor man having been two-over on the day after five holes.

After starting his round with three successive pars, Howell recorded back-to-back bogeys on holes four and five.

After another par at number six, a first birdie of the day arrived at the seventh hole.

Better fortune was to arrive before the turn as another birdie on hole nine saw Howell back to level par for the day at the midway point of his round.

The back nine was a case of solid golf as a run of five pars in a row were recorded before a third birdie of the day at the 15th hole brought Howell back into red figures for the tournament.

And that was how it stayed for the two-time Ryder Cup winner as he closed his round with another three pars to sign for a one-under 69 for one-under overall.