Jamie Donaldson admitted he was disappointed to hit a final round of 76 as his Open challenge faded at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s.

The recently-crowned Irish Open winner went into the competition in good form, which continued with a two-under par 68 in Thursday’s opening round.

A 72 on day two ensured he made the cut and ensured he would see action over the weekend but, although he matched his second round with another 72 on Saturday, his final six-over 76 put the Macclesfield-based star tied in 60th with a 72-hole total of 288.

The 36-year-old started his final round with a bogey on the par-three first hole and, in a turbulent outward nine, he had a double-bogey at the sixth.

Holes six and nine also saw Donaldson drop shots as he began his inward journey having hit 39 shots.

On an unforgiving course there were more dropped shots at the 12th, 15th and 17th, with two birdies at the 14th and 16th holes going some way to redeeming his round.

With his success earlier in the month at Portrush – his first on the European Tour – still a happy memory, he said: "It was not the best – I didn’t really play great. The wind was tricky and I didn’t really play well enough to produce a decent score.

"I had the chances to sort of get it back to respectability, but it didn’t happen.

"So overall I’m a bit disappointed, but there you go, that's golf."

Donaldson had hopes of making his mark following a first European Tour title victory at the Irish Open at Royal Portrush at the start of July.

He finished 15 shots adrift of the winner, South African Ernie Els, who benefited from Adam Scott’s late collapse to win his second Open title.

The next outing for Donaldson is the Bridgestone Invitational, in Firestone, Akron Ohio at the start of August, which will be followed by the US PGA in South Carolina.

"I’ve got a great run of tournaments coming up," he added.

"So we’ll see if we can pick up the game over the next week and be more than ready for those events."