Lucas Bjerregaard does not believe a second European Tour win is far away after losing out in a play-off to Matthew Fitzpatrick at the Omega European Masters.
The Dane entered the final day at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club four shots behind Fitzpatrick but shared the lead at the turn and was one ahead in the clubhouse with the Englishman stood on the last tee.
The defending champion birdied the last to force the play-off and then did it again to win a fifth European Tour title but Bjerregaard was left with plenty of positives.
The result was the 27 years old's seventh top ten of the season and third in a row as he gears up to defend his Portugal Masters title in two weeks.
“I played really well today and I got the start we talked about yesterday,” he said. “Five under on the front nine put a little bit of pressure on the guys.
It would have been nice to get it this week but it feels like it's close - Lucas Bjerregaard
“It's hard right now, I would have loved to get that win but it's been a great week and you can't argue with two birdies from Matt on 18. Congrats to him.
“I've played well here the last couple of years and it's really good week, a lot of positives. It hurts right now but I'm sure after a glass of red wine tonight it'll feel a lot better.
“It would have been nice to get it this week but it feels like it's close, the game has been good with three straight top tens so I'm pretty pleased with that.”
Mike Lorenzo-Vera finished two shots out of the play-off but only after finding water to surrender a bogey on the last.
The Frenchman briefly held a two-shot lead after a birdie on the 13th but he double-bogeyed the par five next to slip back as Bjerregaard made back-to-back birdies.
After finishing third here and losing a play-off at the Rocco Forte Sicilian Open, however, the 33 year old is glad to see his game and career trending in the right direction.
“It was maybe a bad decision to go there on 14,” he said. “I had the lie, I wasn't sure about the distance and then it came out like a rocket and just ended up in the trees behind. I think I pushed it a bit too hard at the end, that three-putt on 14 was just trying too hard to keep the lead.
“It's a good experience here. To stay in contention twice in the year, I think I've never done that before so that's on its way.
“I made a lot of birdies so that means that the work on the greens has been really good. I'm much better off the tee compared to last year so it's good. The work is going to pay rewards.”
