Coxmoor’s Oliver Wilson ended up as the bridesmaid at a European Tour event for the fifth time in a year and admitted he was beginning to feel sick of second place after losing a play-off to Sergio Garcia in the rain-delayed HSBC Champions, on Monday.

Wilson has lost four play-offs in 2008 and taken second place in eight tournaments since turning pro after appearing in the 2003 Walker Cup victory over America at Ganton.

The Mansfield golfer used StrokeAverage.com to analyse his golf stats and performance back then when he was a member of the England Elite squad, as part of the English Golf Union’s world class performance programme.

Wilson failed to match Garcia’s birdie from eight feet on the 18th hole at the second time of asking in the play-off in Shanghai.

The former Augusta State University student had shot a final round 70 on the fifth day at the Sheshan International Golf Club, where StrokeAverage.com client Ross Fisher lost to Phil Mickelson also in a play-off amid high drama 12 months ago.

Ryder Cup rookie Wilson lost out in similar fashion to another Spaniard at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, in May, where Miguel Angel Jimenez prevailed.

He said after his latest setback: “It's getting to a stage where second is not good enough anymore. There was a time I was pleased to be finishing there, and it's gone, and it's about time I took my chances.

“It's going to happen, but I'm making it hard on myself. It will be worth it when I finally get one. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be given to me.”

Garcia, who had fired a superb 68 to catch overnight leader Wilson, to secure his eighth European Tour victory, also had the satisfaction of moving above Phil Mickelson to claim the world number two spot.

Sergio was full of praise for his team-mate at Valhalla back in September, where Europe lost the Ryder Cup to the Americans.

"A win is defiantly close for Oliver. He is playing great and it is going to happen very soon," said the Spaniard.

“Oliver has been playing great, he has just been unfortunate. I have been on that side of the net before and it's not a great feeling, but he can take a lot of positives from it.

“He has to think about the whole week and the whole year; he has had a great year, and take all the positives and make sure that helps him get better. He is going to win soon, he is playing too good not to.”

Victory gave Garcia a cheque for £507,398 in the first event in the Race to Dubai - which the winner of the American PGA Tour’s Players Championship has vowed is his aim to win in 2009.

Wilson’s runners-up prize of £352,321 does at least give him a fast start in the revamped European Order of Merit - with Garica handicapped by the fact that he will play more events in America next year.

The English player will head to Singapore for this week’s Barclays Singapore Open and the UBS Hong Kong Open to consolidate his place in the world’s top 50 between now and the end of the year, which will ensure him a Masters debut and a return trip to Augusta, a course he knows better than most rookies after spending four years at college there. 

Meanwhile, defending champion Phil Mickelson has announced that he will not compete in the Race to Dubai, after mulling over the idea for the past few months.

The mercurial left-hander who has wowed crowds across America with his miraculous short game has not ruled out playing in future years however.

“As I play more throughout the world it would be a natural fit to be a part of the Race to Dubai.”

The three-time major winner was fulsome in his praise for the European Tour and indicated he would be more than happy to be part of it.

“I think that the European Tour is making great strides in their individual events,” he added.

“There is a high quality to the events as well as the Tour as a whole. They've been able to maintain a number of their top players and have a great product to present.

“It would be an honour for me to be a part of it. It just didn't work out for me this year but I wouldn't rule it out for the near future.”

Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim and Tour Championship winner Camilo Villegas have both joined the European Tour.

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HSBC Champions, Sheshan International GC, Shanghai, China.

(GB & IRL unless stated) par 72:

274 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 68 72 68 (Garcia won at the second play-off hole), Oliver Wilson 67 68 69 70

275 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 70 70 66, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 65 70 70

277 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 65 69 72 71

278 Adam Scott (Aus) 66 71 71 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 72 67 70

279 Phil Mickelson (USA) 66 70 70 73, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68 70 71 70

280 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 67 73 70

281 Paul Casey 71 70 68 72, Peter Lawrie 68 72 73 68, Padraig Harrington 69 70 74 68

283 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 73 71 70, Ian Poulter 68 73 74 68

284 Damien McGrane 68 71 72 73, Graeme McDowell 71 65 76 72, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 69 71 75 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 74 70 71 69

285 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 70 73 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 72 73 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 69 71 74, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 69 69 74 73

286 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 74 73 68, David Dixon 74 72 71 69, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 71 69 72 74, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 67 70 78 71

287 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71 74 72, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 70 72 73 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 72 74 69

288 Andrew Bonhomme (Aus) 73 69 71 75, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 73 76 72 67

289 Ashun Wu (Chn) 73 71 70 75, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 68 77 75

290 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 73 76 71, KJ Choi (Kor) 71 74 73 72

291 Soren Hansen (Den) 71 70 71 79, Richard Finch 71 72 74 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 78 72 70 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 68 75 75 73

292 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 73 76 72 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 76 72 72

293 James Kingston (Rsa) 73 71 75 74, Ross Fisher 69 74 76 74, David Horsey 75 71 73 74, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 71 74 75 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 73 73 74 73

294 Scott Hend (Aus) 76 75 70 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 73 74 74 73, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 72 79 74

295 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 73 79 75, John Bickerton 77 71 74 73

296 Mark Brown (USA) 71 74 78 73

297 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 75 75 78, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 73 70 76 78

298 Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe) 73 78 73 74, David Gleeson (Aus) 76 73 72 77

299 David Howell 79 74 73 73, Darren Clarke 72 71 77 79

300 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor) 77 77 71 75, Gregory Havret (Fra) 76 70 77 77

301 Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 75 77 74 75, Lei Shang (Tpe) 71 72 80 78, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 73 75 75 78

302 Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 73 70 86 73

303 Alastair Forsyth 73 78 77 75, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 72 78 79 74

306 Hao Yuan (Chn) 75 76 82 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 76 72 76 82

307 Chao Li (Chn) 76 79 81 71

308 James Kamte (Rsa) 77 73 76 82

309 Bryan Saltus (USA) 78 75 76 80, Angelo Que (Phi) 74 79 81 75

315 Kangchun Wu (Chn) 77 80 78 80

322 Shaun Norris (Rsa) 88 77 76 81