McGrane and McDowell set sights higher

Damien McGrane and Graeme McDowell left Valderrama determined to turn their games around for next season.

Both men close with level par 71s with McDowell tied for 32nd spot on six over par and McGrane 48th on 13 over.

McDowell said: “The week started so well for me and today is probably the best I have struck the ball tee to green in about three months.

“I just really struggled with my short game and it was borderline awful. I really putted awful and I am really disappointed because I struck the golf ball lovely and drove it lovely and hit some nice iron shots.

“So after being in position early on I’ve finished very disappointed. Today I feel I could have shot 65 without even blinking and it’s just that I made nothing. I'll take a break now and regroup for next year"

McGrane was happy to qualify for the Volvo Masters for the second time in a row but dissatisfied with his overall performance this season.

He said: “This is now the door shut on 2006 and I will forget about this season and start brand new with hopefully a few new ideas when I compete in Hong Kong in a few weeks.

“It’s been a funny year for me and it’s been empty and that’s how I have felt as the season has gone on and on and on, so now is the time to draw a line under it and start all over again.

“As for this week, the course just battered me every day and I had three bad holes all week and I just could not bounce back at all from those three holes. The course just battered me left, right and centre so it was a tough week."