European Tour:The fickle temptress that is Valderrama gave with one hand, and stole with the other. For Graeme McDowell, such mischief-making only added to the overall drama of the season's finale; and, while he eventually finished tied-fourth in the Volvo Masters - two shots adrift of the play-off, won by Justin Rose - there were no regrets, just a strong sense afterwards that the 28-year-old Ulsterman had rediscovered his place at the top table.

How do you work it all out? On the par five 17th, McDowell's seven-iron approach shot of almost 200 yards finished in the hole for an albatross two, which in one fell swoop catapulted him into contention for the title.

Some 20 minutes later, though, McDowell had experienced the flip side of the coin after finishing with a double-bogey six on the last. As it transpired, a par would have earned him a place in the play-off.

Still, despite that poor finish which saw him blast his driver into the trees off the tee, McDowell was immersed in a warm glow of good thoughts. And, naturally, that albatross - the third of his career - was the principal reason for the feel-good factor which the player took away with him.

"You know, it was a great week's work. I played some great golf. This tournament is like a major. When I led on Thursday night, I realised I had 54 very difficult holes left and I'm really happy with the way I hung in. My game stood up well over the last 36 holes and I'm really happy with how I hit it. Going out, my target was to shoot 68 . . . obviously that double-bogey on the last wasn't the way I wanted to do it," said McDowell.

The 17th hole here is one of the most infamous in golf, a golfing Spanish inquisition that has seen some poor souls, among them Darren Clarke a number of years ago, run up scores as high as 11.

In Saturday's third round, McDowell had put a six-iron approach into the water on the hole in running up a double-bogey seven.

Yesterday, though, he got his own back with some style.

As McDowell assessed his ball, which had finished just off the fairway in the semi-rough, he had no thought of laying-up. He figured the ball would get a flier and, so, with 186 yards to the front of the green and the pin another 20 yards on, McDowell opted to use a seven-iron that landed softly in the perfect place just off the front edge of the green and then ran into the hole with perfect pace.

Standing back down the fairway, McDowell knew the ball was close, but couldn't see it drop.

"My eyesight is horrendous," he quipped.

Instead, he listened as the roars of the crowds grew louder and louder before breaking into a thunderous roar that could be heard all over the course.

"It could be one of the best feelings I've ever had on a golf course. I had a massive adrenalin rush into the system," he said.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to control that rush by the time he was required to drive off the 18th tee and pushed his drive wildly into the trees.

"I made a terrible swing," he admitted, and the resulting double-bogey meant McDowell missed out on a place in the play-off by two shots.

Of his season, which saw the player finish 37th on the Order of Merit, McDowell said: "I underachieved a little bit this season, but I've gotten massive positives and I'm feeling great about my game. This year has been a breakthrough year as far as getting me back on the map a little.

"I'm looking forward to the next few seasons, obviously it being a Ryder Cup year and this is a nice boost points-wise and world rankings and all that good stuff.

"I'm just generally excited about what is going on in my game."