Paul Casey claimed his fourth European Tour title with a play-off win over Paul McGinley at the TCL Classic at the Yalong Bay Golf Club but only after missing two chances to beat the Irishman.

Casey birdied a 25-foot put on the second hole of the sudden death contest to edge out McGinley after both men had finished the regulation 72 holes level on 22 under par.

But the 27-year-old's victory only came after he had twice failed to kill off the contest. He left a putt 15 feet just short on the 18th and, on the first play-off hole, slipped a 12-foot putt past the left edge of the cup.

On their return to the par-four 18th for the second play-off hole, however, Casey might have won with par as McGinley was 12 feet away in three after finding sand with his drive and his approach.

As it was, the Englishman swept home from the back of the green to claim a win which takes him to 20th of the European Tour Order of Merit, just one place behind McGinley.

"It was nice to be in the final group. I knew Paul was playing very, very well and had finished at 22-under when I was coming down 16. I knew what I had to do and it was nice to be in that position. I also like chasing scores and I think I am good at chasing," he said.

It was a welcome breakthrough for Casey, who - despite team victories at the Ryder Cup and World Cup last year - has a firmly stated goal of more individual triumphs in 2005. The last of his three European Tour victories prior to this week came at the 2003 Benson & Hedges International Open.

"It is very satisfying to have won again," said Casey, who will head to the Players Championship in the United States this week.

"I feel like I put in a lot of work in the off-season and it is also nice after having a back injury earlier in the year to come out play some decent golf. In fact, I played some very good golf.

"It was great to cap it off the way I did, especially after having a chance on 18 and leaving it short. To finish it off on the second play-off hole was very, very nice."

McGinley had done well just to get to the play-off after starting the day in 10th place.

He matched the course record with a stunning nine-under par final round, including nine birdies, and only just missed out on a 10th at the 18th which would have won him the title.

"It is really disappointing to shoot 63 in the last round and lose. I gave it my best shot, but it wasn't meant to be," he said.

"I hit the edge of the hole on the last as well, which would have given me six birdies in a row to win. Perhaps it was just Paul's turn."

There was considerable disappointment for Colin Montgomerie, who had shared the lead yesterday with Casey but had to settle for sixth, two shots off the pace.

The Scot, in a desperate hunt for world ranking points ahead of next month's Masters, birdied four out of five around the turn but could only manage seven pars over the rest of the course.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand and Korea's Wook-Soon Kang tied for third place.

Collated final totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

266 Paul Casey 64 68 68 66 (Paul Casey won at the 2nd playoff hole), Paul McGinley 65 69 69 63

267 Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 64 70 66 67, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 68 69 65 65, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 66 67 68 66

268 Colin Montgomerie 67 65 68 68

269 Ivo Giner (Spa) 67 66 69 67, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 70 64 69 66, Edward Loar (USA) 69 65 69 66

271 Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 69 64 72 66, Alex Quiroz (Mex) 65 65 72 69

272 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 66 70 68, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 66 67 68 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 69 66 67 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 70 65 68 69

273 Johan Edfors (Swe) 64 69 70 70, Ted Oh (Kor) 69 67 71 66

274 Peter Fowler (Aus) 70 68 68 68

275 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 68 71 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 68 70 70, Thavorn Wiratchant (Tha) 68 67 69 71, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 68 66 70 71

276 Ariel Canete (Arg) 65 72 69 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 68 70 70, Scott Strange 67 70 70 69, Adam Fraser (Aus) 69 69 71 67, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 68 69 70, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 66 67 75 68

277 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 69 68 69 71, Ian Garbutt 68 70 70 69, Stuart Little 71 64 72 70, Marcus Both (Aus) 68 70 70 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 68 69 70 70, Simon Yates 68 67 71 71, Larry Austin (Aus) 71 67 71 68, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 67 68 68 74, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 66 71 70 70, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 66 68 70 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-castano (Spa) 65 72 73 67, Dean Robertson 66 72 71 68

278 Simon Hurd 69 66 72 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 66 71 72 69, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 67 71 71, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 69 69 71 69, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 68 68 71 71, Gary Evans 68 70 71 69, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 68 68 68 74

279 Pablo Del Olmo (Mex) 68 67 72 72, Gwang-Soo Choi (Kor) 65 67 73 74, Ross Bain 65 69 71 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 67 70 73 69, David Griffiths 67 71 70 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 67 67 74 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 71 71, Tse-peng Chang (Tai) 68 67 73 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 68 70 70 71

280 Johan Skold (Swe) 70 68 71 71, Joon Chung (Kor) 68 69 74 69, Brian Saltus (USA) 66 71 71 72

281 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 69 73 70, Wen-gen Zheng (Hkg) 67 71 70 73, Paul Marantz (Aus) 67 71 72 71

282 Steven O'Hara 65 70 71 76, Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 68 69 74 71

284 Corey Harris (USA) 65 71 72 76, Chao Li (Chn) 72 66 71 75, Darren Griff (Can) 65 72 74 73, Harmeet Kahlon (Ind) 67 70 74 73

285 John Mellor 69 68 75 73, Lei Shang (Tpe) 69 69 72 75, Robert Rock 70 68 74 73

287 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 66 72 74 75