DESPITE seeing his chances of securing a first European Tour victory go up in smoke on Sunday after shooting a 72 in the final round of the Spanish Open, Chingford-based golfer Simon Khan remained upbeat this week when he said that he was going to use a costly lapse in putting as "a valuable learning experience."

A dramatic final day at the Golf Costa Adeje in Tenerife saw the 30-year-old, who plays out of the Toot Hill club near Epping and is sponsored by Woodford-based internet company ecasino365.com, start the morning level at the top of the leader board with five others after shooting 66, 65 and 66 in the opening three rounds.

But Simon saw his game start to fall away after he missed an eagle putt from four-feet on the eighth, and like several other players he lost the lead as he eventually slipped down to joint-tenth on 19 under-par in a tournament that was eventually won by Kenneth Ferrie in a three way sudden-death play-off with Sweden's Peter Hedblom and Peter Lawrie.

However, Khan was still delighted with his third top ten finish of the season after recording a 22 under-par total of 266 which saw him bank just short of £20,000 for his efforts and moved him up to 44th on the Volvo Order of Merit.

He said: "In the end there were a lot of scores within two or three shots of the lead, and I always knew it was going to be tight.

"I was really pleased with the way I was hitting the ball, but after playing so well with the putter early on I was disappointed that it fell away a bit on the last day, because I had three three-putts which cost me the tournament.

"But while I was obviously downbeat on the day that I didn't win, I was happy with my general play and it was nice to be up there challenging on the final day.

"It was a great experience and one that I will learn from. Maybe next time I will learn from it and if I get into that situation again I will hold my nerve.

"I must say though that it was some of the best golf I have played this season and it was nice to have my wife and sponsor there showing their support."

And Simon is feeling optimistic going into this week's Italian Open in Brescia, as he added: "I am confident that if I get into the right position of going into the last day in the lead that I can win a tournament this season now.

"I am really looking forward to playing in Italy this week and if I can find some consistency again I don't see why I can't be up there challenging once more."

May 1, 2003 10:30