BOGEY woe on the final day cost North Yorkshire's king of swing Simon Dyson dear in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Dyson, who was among illustrious company as he lay in fourth place after the third round in the star-studded event at the Emirates Golf Club, dipped to a final round, one-over par 73.

That nudged him down the leaderboard to joint 20th on an eight-under-par total of 280 (68 69 70 73) alongside French duo Jean Van de Velde and Raphael Jacquelin, plus Australia's Wayne Ormesby.

The winner was American veteran Mark O'Meara, who posted a four-round 271 total one shot ahead of Ireland's Paul McGinley. O'Meara's reward in a world-class field was a winner's cheque of almost £180,000.

It was a heart-sapping finish for the 26-year-old Dyson, who is battling bravely to restore his place on the lucrative European Tour.

A top-ten finish would have gone a long way to helping to realise that goal, but Dyson opened and closed the final round, in which he had just missed out on playing with world number one Tiger Woods, with bogies. Dyson also dropped a shot on the ninth but battled back with birdies on the fifth and tenth holes.

But it was that final hole of the competition that irked him the most.

In the three previous rounds the Malton and Norton Golf Club ace, whose playing partners were Bradley Dredge and Paul Casey on the final day, had birdied the 500-yard par five 18th after laying-up with his second shot.

He opted for the same tactic but admitted hitting 'a crap nine-iron' into the rough. He struggled to get out and ultimately recorded a six.

Still, that yielded him a cheque of nearly £13,000 and also put him in good heart for a glut of upcoming events starting with the Singapore Open a week on Thursday.

Updated: 11:01 Monday, March 08, 2004