DAVID Howell saw another opportunity to win his first tournament of the year slip through his fingers in Spain today.

The 39-year-old went into the final day of the Open de España with a share of the lead alongside fellow Englishman James Morrison.

However, a one-over-par-round of 73 saw his hopes of clinching his first title in almost two years fall away as he secured his third top-two finish of the year.

Howell got underway just after midday in Barcelona and made a steady start, making par on the opening five holes.

Last year's winner Miguel Ángel Jiménez was the big mover in the chasing pack with a score of four-under through the opening eight holes to leave him three off the lead.

Morrison had a lovely chip from just off the green on the fifth to take the lead on his own on eight-under-par, with Howell only managing a par to stay one behind.

A bogey on the sixth - after finding the bunker with his tee shot - saw the Swindon golfer fall two shots behind Morrison.

Howell remained two back as he got a par on the seventh after finding the bunker with his drive on the par-five hole, before he put the nightmare of hole eight, which he double-bogeyed on Saturday, behind him.

However, there was a three-shot swing on the last hole of the front nine as Howell began to lose his grip on the title.

The Broome Manor pro was unable to recover his tee shot on the ninth hole because of an electrified fence after finding the trees, and with a drop shot, he could only score a double-bogey six, with Morrison securing a birdie on the same hole to move to nine-under-par.

Another dropped shot for Howell on the par-three-11th moved the Broome Manor ace to six off the lead and the frustration was starting to tell on the 13th as he was heard to say “nothing coming out of the middle today”.

Back-to-back birdies for Howell on 14 and 15 saw him move back up the leaderboard to five under par.

However, he couldn’t put any more pressure on Morrison, who looked in control all day, as the Swindon star finished with two pars on holes 16 and 17 before clinching a tied-second finish with a birdie on the last.

Howell ended four shots off the lead as he shared second spot with Jimenez, Edouard Espana and Francesco Molinari.