DAVID Howell produced a sparkling back nine to shoot a one-under-par 71 in the final round of the Turkish Airlines Open this afternoon and finish in a tie for 37th place.

The Swindon golfer had positioned himself well over the first two rounds at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Antalya and headed into the weekend at five-under-par.

However, he was unable to sustain that momentum over the closing two days and could not improve upon that score, finishing five-under overall and well down the leaderboard.

Frenchman Victor Dubuisson won the event, with his six-under final round of 66 taking him to 22-under, one shot ahead of South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl.

Broome Manor pro Howell had begun his day well and a birdie on the third had him one-under after four holes.

However, the wheels then fell off in a big way with a bogey at five before two double-bogey sixes at the seventh and ninth holes had him four-over for the round.

Howell refused to give in, though, and from there he produced his best scoring of the week, with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 before another at the par three 14th.

A fifth birdie of the round at the penultimate hole brought him back to level for the day and there was still time for more joy at the last as another birdie came Howell’s well, ensuring his walk back to the clubhouse was much more enjoyable than had seemed likely a few hours earlier.