Norfolk's Andrew Marshall struggled to make an impact at the weekend after making his third successive European Tour cut.

The Dereham professional went into the final two rounds of the Saint-Omer Open in France well placed to challenge for a top 10 finish – but in the end had to settle for a tied 28th position.

The damage was done on Saturday when Marshall's bid for a decent pay day was quite literally blown off course. Like many players he struggled in the high winds and posted a five over par round of 76 to go with earlier efforts of 72 and 71. The Norfolk player was back to his usual consistent self yesterday in easier conditions, but a final round of 72 did little to improve his position.

The event was won by South African Darren Fichardt who survived a rough final round to clinch his third European Tour title as he won by three shots from Gary Lockerbie.

As high winds in Lumbres pushed the scores up once again, Fichardt closed with a two over par 73 and found himself under pressure from Lockerbie and Simon Wakefield as a lead that at one stage stood at eight shots almost blew away.

'It was messy today,' he said.

'It definitely wasn't pretty. I was absolutely terrified and I was happy we didn't have to play any more holes.