An emotional Sam Little fought back tears as he secured his European Tour card at the last attempt in the Mallorca Classic.

All looked lost for the Londoner three weeks ago when he lay outside the top 170 on the Order of Merit with only three events left to climb into the top 117 and avoid an immediate return to the qualifying school.

But the 32-year-old was then joint seventh in the Madrid Open to qualify for the following week's Portugal Masters and, after finishing 34th there, produced the performance of his career to finish second behind France's Gregory Bourdy at Pula Golf Club.

Little, a West Ham fan who likened his "great escape" to that of the Hammers from relegation from the Premier League last season, revealed the birth of twin daughters Natalie and Amelia had been the turning point.

"Three weeks ago, just before the babies were born, my head was all over the place," Little, who kept his card by just £418 in 2005 and lost it again in 2006, said after a final round of 67.

"It's no coincidence that once they were born I've started playing well and it's great for them.

"I feel great, I played great today. The putt on 16 for birdie was massive for me. When I holed that putt I knew I had a really good chance but I saw a leaderboard and knew that seven under par was enough for me to keep my card.

"Once I made a good start to the week my caddie said to me, 'Try to win the tournament' because I can't control what other people do, I can only control what I do and that's what I did today. I'm really proud of myself for that.

"I've got my card for next year, that's the main thing. This weekend I played fantastic and the last three weeks have been unbelievable. I did everything I could today and 10 under would have won by five last year so it's a great achievement.

"This week showed me that I'm good enough now, simple as that, so hopefully I won't be standing here again next year."

Hull's Richard Finch was also celebrating after surviving a nervous finish to claim a share of seventh place and move up from 124th on the money list to 110th.

"It was horrible really," said Finch. "One moment I was doing all the right things but as soon as I relaxed I ran into a problem.

"When I double-bogeyed the 15th I knew I had three holes left and I needed to play them in level par to give myself a chance. To finish birdie-par-birdie is great and I'm really pleased to have come through. I think I'll be able to take a great deal from it."

There was not such good news for those who failed to keep their card of course, with Southport's Lee Slattery agonisingly missing out by just £53.50.

Slattery began the week safely in 115th place but missed the cut and had to watch as Little, Finch and former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin overtook him, Sandelin claiming the last card in 117th place by that slender margin.

Doncaster's Ian Garbutt also dropped from 117th to 119th to miss out while tour winners David Carter, David Park and Sven Struver were already assured of a trip to the qualifying school next month after missing the cut on Saturday morning and Scot Andrew Coltart will join them after failing to claim the 13th place he needed.

Meanwhile, Bourdy could celebrate his first European Tour title and qualification for the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama next week after a near-flawless final round.

Bourdy carded three birdies and no bogeys in a closing 67 for a 12-under-par total of 268, his only moment of concern coming when his approach to the 16th cleared the water guarding the front of the green by a matter of feet.

The 25-year-old from Bordeaux - who was drenched in champagne by compatriots Thomas Levet and Christian Cevaer on the 18th green - claimed the first prize of £238,000 after finishing two shots clear of Little.

Holland's Robert-Jan Derksen took third place on nine under with Scot Alastair Forsyth fourth after a closing 66 while pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia, never out of the top two in his three previous appearances in the event, struggled to a closing 73 to finish in a tie for 16th.

"This is fantastic to get my first win," Bourdy said. "I started off nervously and got lucky on the first three holes to make par but after that my game was much better.

"I thought my second shot on the 16th was in the water, I was a bit lucky there, but I'm delighted to win and qualify for the Volvo Masters. I knew I needed to finish in the top three and I made it.

"I might celebrate with my friends tonight if they are not flying home but definitely with my family after next week."

Collated final-round scores (Gbr&Irl unless stated, par 70):

(x) denotes amateurs

268 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 68 64 67

270 Sam Little 66 69 68 67

271 Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 66 65 70 70

273 Alastair Forsyth 68 69 70 66

274 Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 71 68 67, Peter Lawrie 66 68 68 72

275 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 70 68 66, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 69 64 71, Richard Finch 68 69 66 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 66 65 71 73

276 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 64 75 66, Graeme McDowell 71 67 70 68, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 70 67 68, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 69 72 65 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67 68 70

277 Graeme Storm 67 73 67 70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 67 69 73

278 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 73 69 68 68, Mark Foster 67 75 65 71

279 Barry Lane 68 68 73 70, Paul Lawrie 69 68 72 70, Matthew Millar (Aus) 71 67 71 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68 72 71, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 68 72 72 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 74 72 65

280 Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 69 68 73 70, Anthony Wall 72 69 69 70, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 66 73 70 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 69 69 72, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 69 68 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 65 70 79 66, Carl Suneson (Spa) 72 64 70 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 68 70 74

281 Paul McGinley 71 72 66 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 73 70, Damien McGrane 71 70 70 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 70 69 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 66 74 73

282 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 74 68 69 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 69 72, Gary Orr 70 69 72 71, Robert Rock 69 68 70 75, Benn Barham 70 72 71 69

283 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 73 68 72, Simon Wakefield 69 71 70 73, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 68 74 70 71, Francis Valera (Spa) 69 73 70 71, Richard Bland 72 69 71 71, Phillip Archer 70 72 71 70

284 Miles Tunnicliff 71 72 69 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 73 71 70, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 71 71 72 70

285 Ian Garbutt 69 69 73 74, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 69 75 73, Gary Murphy 66 74 68 77, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 70 69 74 72, Phillip Price 69 72 72 72, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 73 73 71

286 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 69 73 75, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 72 70 73, Steven O'Hara 73 68 75 70

287 Luis Claverie (Spa) 67 70 74 76, Alvaro Salto (Spa) 71 71 72 73, Andrew Marshall 69 74 72 72

288 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 67 73 71 77, Andrew Coltart 69 74 70 75, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 72 71 71 74, Stephen Dodd 74 68 74 72, Marcus Higley 73 67 76 72

289 Ariel Canete (Arg) 69 71 75 74

294 James Hepworth 67 7475 78