Agony for James Busby with defeat in play-off

James Busby is eyeing an end-of-season charge to join golf's superstars on the European Tour after agonisingly missing out on the biggest victory of his career.

The 30-year-old, who plays out of The Shropshire Golf Centre in Muxton, finished runner-up in the ECCO Tour Championship in Denmark, the latest event on the second tier Challenge Tour.

Busby was one shot clear playing the last but a bogey five forced him into a play-off with Italian Alessandro Tadini.

Both men made par at the first two holes in sudden death, but a bogey at the third ended Busby's hope and forced him to settle for the £13,800 second prize.

"I'm upset because I came so close and I felt like I played well enough to win," said Busby, who lives in Hadley in Telford and carded rounds of 68, 71, 67 and 70 for a 12-under-par total.

"But I can also take a lot of confidence because I know I have the game to win out here. I didn't really enjoy it too much at the start of the season with travelling to places like Kenya and Colombia but I've settled in now and am looking forward to it every week."

The 30-year-old has climbed to 32nd in the Challenge Tour order of merit in his first season on the second tier of European golf.

And his sights are now firmly fixed on on climbing into the top 20 to qualify for next season's main European Tour.

"My first target was to finish in the top 80 and stay on the Challenge Tour for next year," he added. "I've achieved that now so it's about trying to get into that top 20."

Nine events remains on the Challenge Tour, with Busby next in action in the Rolex Trophy in Switzerland which starts on Wednesday.