Callum Macaulay's spirited last-ditch bid for a place in next month's Challenge Tour Grand Final ended in disappointment in the Roma Golf Open, the penultimate event on the second-tier circuit's schedule.

While Raymond Russell secured a share of third in only his third event of a campaign interrupted by a mystery illness, Macaulay closed with a two-under 69 for a nine-under 275 and took fifth behind England’s Sam Little, who beat Pelle Edberg to the title in a play-off.

The former Scottish Amateur champion earned €8000 but that only lifted him to 49th on the rankings with the top 45 qualifying for the season-ending showdown, where the final 20 promotion places to the European Tour will be decided.

“I came so close,” said Macaulay, who birdied two of his last three holes. “I gave it a good go but needed to be two shots better.”

Craig Lee shared 29th place and will head for the Grand Final in 12th place in the rankings.

n The PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles, which will stage the 2014 Ryder Cup, will close today for over six months as the fine tuning of the host venue ahead of the biennial tournament gathers pace.

Bernard Murphy, the general manager of the Perthshire resort, admitted that a more “aggressive” approach to maintenance was being adopted to ensure that improvements to drainage and some alterations to the course – including the much-maligned 18th hole – would be completed two years before the transatlantic tussle takes place.

Jack Nicklaus, the 18-time major winner who designed the original PGA Centenary course, has already offered suggestions for the long, uphill closing hole which is viewed as being too bland for a Ryder Cup finish.

“Jack has made a suggestion about the strategy of the hole,” said Murphy. “It is likely to change but there are still a couple of competing theories.”

n Ross Drummond secured his best finish of the season on the European Senior Tour in the Benahavis Masters at La Quinta in Spain. The 55-year-old from Paisley, a four-time Scottish PGA champion, closed with a three-under 68 for a five-under 208 and claimed fourth place.

n Clydebank’s Scott Henry moved to the brink of promotion to next year’s Challenge Tour after sharing fifth place in the Alps Tour’s Masters 13 event in France last night. He is fifth on the tour’s rankings, with the top-five after the final event in Sardinia next week stepping up a division.