GOLF/Spanish Open: Peter Lawrie, in his first year on the European Tour, was just edged out in a three-man play-off as England's Kenneth Ferrie kept his nerve to win his first title, at his 56th attempt, in Tenerife yesterday.

The 24-year-old from Ashington, Northumberland - home town of the Charlton brothers Bobby and Jack - captured the Canaries Spanish Open at Costa Adeje with a birdie at the second hole of a play-off against Dubliner Lawrie and Swede Peter Hedblom.

Ferrie, 6ft 4in, had earlier birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes in superb fashion to draw level.

Lawrie had set the target of 22 under par with a four-foot eagle putt on the last for a 66 and Hedblom, needing to birdie the 542-yard closing hole to reach 23 under, three-putted for only a par and a 67.

Ferrie, British boys champion seven years ago, also failed to make the four he required for the €291,660 first prize - more than he earned in his first three seasons on the circuit - but after signing for a 69 he had a chance to make amends in the play-off and he grabbed it.

After all three had birdied the same hole at the start of sudden death they returned to the 18th again and this time Ferrie was the only one to make a four, Lawrie three-putting from just over the green and Hedblom going right and making a mess of his chip.

Ferrie had fired his approach to 10 feet and two putts proved good enough.

"Thankfully my finish was just good enough," he said. "I feel great, although no doubt it will take some time to sink in. I've won a couple of times on the challenge tour but this is the next step up for me.

"I had a heart-to-heart with my coach (John Harrison) at the start of last year. I was not happy being a run-of-the-mill player, especially not seeing Sergio Garcia playing in Ryder Cups and Justin Rose doing all sorts of things too.

"I consider myself as good as them and I wanted to do myself justice.

"This is the first time I've been in this situation and I didn't know what to expect. But I coped with it better than I thought I would."

Londoner Brian Davis, missing a 12-foot eagle chance on the last, and Dane Mads Vibe-Hastrup shared fourth a stroke behind.

Earlier in the day, Paul McGinley shared the lead after 11 holes but bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 17th saw him fall out of contention. However, a birdie at the last took him to 19 under par 269 after a final round of 70.

An incredible 14 players held at least a share of the lead on the final day, but there were some surprising errors by some of the favourites.

Surrey's Paul Casey, seeking the win that would have put him second on the Order of Merit behind Ernie Els, lost a ball up a palm tree on the long 11th and Miguel Angel Jimenez took a double bogey seven there as well after climbing to top spot.

Spanish amateur Pablo Martin, who sensationally was part of a six-way tie for the lead after a third-round 64, was out in front on his own when he birdied the 539-yard first after a pitch to seven feet.

But the 17-year-old Malaga schoolboy's dream of capturing his national title in only his second European tour event - and becoming both the first amateur to win on the circuit and easily the youngest-ever champion - effectively ended when he triple-bogeyed the 459-yard fourth.

He does go into the record books, though. No amateur had ever led with a round to play and he missed the low amateur record by just one shot.

Gary Murphy finished on 274 after a final round of 69 while Graeme McDowell, after a promising opening 65, finished well down the field with a final round of 76 for a total of 277.

(Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 72)

(x) denotes amateur

266 - K Ferrie 67 65 65 69, Peter Lawrie 67 64 69 66, P Hedblom (Swe) 64 70 65 67.

(Ferrie won play-off at second tie hole. Ferrie wins €291,660, Lawrie and Hedblom win €151,995 each).

267 - M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 68 65 65, B Davis 66 67 65 69 (€80,850).

268 - G Evans 67 69 67 65, C Schwartzel (Rsa) 63 70 67 68, P Casey 64 65 68 71, S Luna (Spa) 67 64 66 71.

269 - P Price 66 68 69 66, M Brier (Aut) 68 68 67 66, R Green (Aus) 67 66 68 68, A Wall 68 68 65 68, J M Olazabal (Spa) 64 67 69 69, Paul McGinley 66 66 67 70, M Olander (Swe) 63 69 67 70, P Fowler (Aus) 69 65 65 70, S Khan 66 65 66 72.

270 - R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 70 65 67, S Garcia (Spa) 69 67 66 68, M Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66 67 67 70.

271 - J Spence 69 69 68 65, J Van Hauwe (Fra) 65 69 69 68, R Russell 67 67 67 70, (x) P Martin (Spa) 67 66 64 74.

272 - C Quevedo (Spa) 69 65 71 67, J Sandelin (Swe) 64 70 70 68, I Giner (Spa) 66 69 67 70, S Webster 64 70 67 71, M Ilonen (Fin) 67 65 68 72, S Hansen (Den) 64 68 65 75.

273 - P Golding 68 67 72 66, A Hansen (Den) 68 70 69 66, D Park 67 69 70 67, K Eriksson (Swe) 67 67 71 68, J Kingston (Rsa) 69 67 68 69, S Scahill (Nzl) 67 68 68 70, M Maritz (Rsa) 68 68 67 70, S Webster 67 69 66 71, M Siem (Ger) 67 71 64 71, N Colsaerts (Bel) 65 68 68 72, D Gilford 72 65 63 73, M Tunnicliff 64 65 70 74.

274 - W Bennett 66 68 71 69, Gary Murphy 68 67 70 69, J Rivero (Spa) 67 68 69 70, R Chapman 68 70 65 71, B Dredge 67 66 68 73, J Clement (Swi) 69 63 66 76.

275 - M A Martin (Spa) 70 66 70 69, M Gronberg (Swe) 67 66 72 70, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 67 65 72 71, M Eliasson (Swe) 66 70 68 71, A Raitt 67 70 67 71, J Donaldson 68 66 67 74, F Widmark (Swe) 66 67 67 75.

276 - G Emerson 71 67 74 64, J Moseley (Aus) 71 66 72 67, M Pilkington 67 69 72 68, F Orest (Swe) 71 66 70 69, A Marshall 65 67 70 74, F Andersson (Swe) 64 71 66 75.

277 - (x) A Quiros (Spa) 70 68 70 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 69 70 70, R-J Derksen (Ned) 68 70 69 70, M Roe 72 65 69 77, R Sterne (Rsa) 67 70 68 72, Graeme McDowell 65 68 68 76.

278 - R Wessels (Rsa) 68 68 72 70, G Brand Jnr 65 70 71 72, E Fernandez (Arg) 69 67 69 73, F Cea (Spa) 68 70 66 74.

279 - D Robertson 69 66 73 71, K Storgaard (Den) 68 70 69 72, J Bickerton 66 69 71 73.

280 - M Moreno (Spa) 67 69 74 70, A Oldcorn 64 72 69 75.

281 - N Dougherty 71 67 70 73

282 - F Bisazza (Ita) 70 67 69 76.

283 - F Jacobson (Swe) 70 68 74 71.

284 - M Mackenzie 70 68 71 75.

285 - T J Munoz (Spa) 68 70 75 72.