Tied at the top of the leaderboard with England’s Matthew Southgate prior to the third and final round, Antcliff led the field in driving accuracy but was unable to take advantage of his fairway finds, hitting 56 per cent of greens in regulation on his way to a 3-over 75.

As England’s Marcus Armitage made a charge around the turn that would ultimately yield his maiden European Tour win, Antcliff was 1-over on his round and needing to make a charge.

A bogey at the par-4 12th made his assignment all that more difficult and then when he dropped shots at the par 5 15th and 16th holes the 28-year-old’s hopes evaporated completely.

A birdie at the final hole moved him back into a tie for 11th and crucial Race to Dubai points, now sitting 39th in the year-long points race.

In just his second start back since he was tied for sixth at the Saudi International in February, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox fired a 3-under 69 in the final round to join Antcliff just outside the top 10.

In a roller-coaster round that included just six pars along with eight birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey, Fox climbed 21 spots on the leaderboard and moved up to 104th in the Race to Dubai.

Like Fox, New South Welshman Dimi Papadatos finished strongly to squeeze just inside the top 30 while West Australian Jason Scrivener faces an anxious wait to see whether his tie for 55th is enough to qualify him for next week’s US Open.

European Tour

Porsche European Open

Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany

Winner Marcus Armitage             72-71-65—208              €179,670

T11        Maverick Antcliff             71-68-75—214              €17,410

T11        Ryan Fox                            71-74-69—214              €17,410

T29        Dimitrios Papadatos       72-75-70—217              €9,150

T55        Jason Scrivener                74-70-77—221              €4,468

T60        Josh Geary                         72-73-78—223              €3,942

​MC         Min Woo Lee                    74-74—148

MC         Wade Ormsby                  76-73—149

MC         Deyen Lawson                  77-75—152

MC         Jarryd Felton                     81-74—155

MC         Scott Hend                         79-76—155

MC         Jake McLeod                     77-81—158