Kevin Phelan has endured a difficult rookie season but three closing birdies worth third place in the Hong Kong Open earned him the biggest cheque of his career, a free pass to the Final Stage of Q-School and the opportunity to salvage his tour card in the final event of the season.

It was a wonderful day for the Waterford native who heads for the ISPS Perth International in Australia knowing a third place finish could be enough for him to avoid another trip back to the Q-School at PGA Catalunya Resort where he briliantly won his card 11 months ago.

Tied 11th starting the day, Phelan carded a four under par 66, picking up shots at his last three holes after a difficult day, to set the clubhouse target at 11 under 269.

Australia's Scott Hend (67) and Angelo Que (66) of the Phillippines eventually posted 13 under to set up a play-off which Hend would win at the first extra hole, meaning Phelan earned €64,546 for solo third and jumped from 152nd to 129th in the Race to Dubai.

Only the Top-110 will keep their full playing rights after the final regular event of the season in Australia next week and Phelan is now within touching distance of his goal, nearly €62,000 adrift of 110th ranked Lee Slattery. 

"I'm delighted with my finish," Phelan told European Tour Radio's Nick Dye. "I was kind of struggling a bit all day, trying to hang in there and made a few really good par saves on the back nine. Hit a few good shots and took advantage coming in."

The former Walker Cup star opened with a bogey five, birdied the short second and the seventh but then struggled to get anything going until he biried the 16th, 17th and 18th to give himself a European Tour lifeline. 

"I tried to just stick to my gameplan I've had all week, just focusssing on one shot at a time and it's worked fairly well all week," he said. "I struggled a bit at the start today but I hung in there and had a nice finish."

Sticking to his gameplan has been tough for Phelan, who had played 24 European Tour events since winning his card last year but made just nine cuts with his best finish a share of sixth in the Tswane Open in South Africa in March.

"That's what I've struggled with the most this year," he said of the pressure to climb the Race to Dubai standings. "I just made a conscious effort this week to go back to what works for me. I played nicely and hopefully I can carry on. 

"It would have been nice if I had gotten a run a bit earlier but I'll take it now and delighted with the finish. I've been playing quite well and not getting any results out of it. So it's nice to get a decent finish. It's nice to be able to do it coming down the end of the a tournament. It's definitely a booster."

Phelan won't be the only Irishman battling for his card at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Peter Lawrie must win to avoid a trip to Q-School while Gareth Maybin almost certainly needs nothing worse than a Top-10 finish to keep his full playing rights.

As for Hend, he took his maiden European Tour title after a thrilling back-nine battle which culminated in a play-off with Que in Fanling.

A par on the first extra hole was enough to finally see off Que, who missed the green at the 18th hole and then under-hit his chip shot.

That was in stark contrast to his earlier efforts, with the Filipino having fired a superb approach to the 18th in regulation for his seventh gain of the day, a round of 66 and a 13 under par total.

Hend was also 13 under par at the time, but in rough down the left of the 16th hole, from where he did well to save par.

A good birdie chance at the 17th hole then went begging, but Hend did well to save par at the last after his approach plugged in a bunker, the Australian signing for a 67.

“This means everything," Hend said. "I’ve won five times out here on the Asian Tour, and I’ve come very close on the PGA Tour and The European Tour and finally, finally, at the age of 41, I’ve won a European Tour event. It’s very special.

“This one is for my kids. They have been sending me music messages the last three mornings. So yeah, it’s very much to be treasured.”

2014 Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong GC (Par 70)

267 S Hend (Aus) 67 66 67 67, A Que (Phi) 65 69 67 66,

269 K Phelan (Irl) 69 67 67 66,

270 M Foster (Eng) 67 68 66 69,

271 M Fraser (Aus) 67 67 65 72, S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 65 70 67, E Els (RSA) 66 65 71 69, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 69 68 67 67,

272 E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 67 70 67, R Jacquelin (Fra) 66 67 69 70, C Smith (Aus) 68 65 69 70,

273 J Colomo  (Esp) 68 70 64 71, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 66 68 71 68, S Benson (Eng) 68 66 71 68,

274 A Groom (Aus) 67 68 68 71, R Bland (Eng) 70 65 70 69, R Gangjee (Ind) 68 68 72 66, L Slattery (Eng) 68 66 73 67, J Randhawa (Ind) 64 70 68 72,

275 C Wi (Kor) 70 68 69 68, P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 69 68 68 70, J Kruger (RSA) 66 69 66 74, R Karlberg  (Swe) 67 70 72 66, M Joong-Kyung (Kor) 68 71 66 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 67 70 69, S Kapur (Ind) 68 68 70 69, D Im (USA) 69 68 70 68, P Whiteford (Sco) 67 70 71 67, D Huizing (Ned) 66 68 71 70, P Meesawat  (Tha) 71 66 68 70,

276 A Pavan (Ita) 70 66 71 69, M Both (Aus) 67 67 71 71, M Nixon (Eng) 70 67 69 70,

277 G Bourdy (Fra) 67 68 71 71, B Seuk-Hyun (Kor) 66 73 69 69, A Wall (Eng) 68 71 68 70, A Da Silva (Bra) 69 67 74 67, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 70 69 68 70, J Quesne  (Fra) 67 67 72 71, W Jeung-Hun (Kor) 72 67 69 69,

278 T Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68 71 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 67 67 72 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 68 70 69, J Janewattananond (Tha) 69 69 72 68,

279 T Lewis (Eng) 71 68 71 69, S Manley (Wal) 68 71 70 70, J Hansen  (Den) 70 66 73 70, S Kim (Kor) 67 72 72 68, J Heath  (Eng) 66 73 74 66, N Elvira  (Esp) 66 69 71 73, A Forsyth (Sco) 69 66 72 72, A Hartø  (Den) 69 69 68 73,

280 M Mamat (Sin) 71 67 71 71, N Fung (Mas) 69 70 73 68, J Doherty  (Sco) 68 67 72 73,

281 C Kim (USA) 67 70 73 71, P Waring  (Eng) 73 64 70 74, C Lee (Sco) 71 65 70 75, M Rominger  (Sui) 72 67 73 69, J Morrison  (Eng) 71 68 73 69,

282 D Lipsky (USA) 68 70 72 72, J Knutzon (USA) 68 68 73 73,

283 M Crespi  (Ita) 71 68 69 75,

284 J McLeary  (Sco) 69 69 77 69,

285 T Chi-Huang (Tpe) 71 68 74 72,

286 S Cyr (USA) 67 69 71 79.