Matt Wallace’s Sky Sports British Masters challenge faded in the wet and gloom at Walton Heath as he slipped back down the leaderboard into a tie for 16th place on one-under-par.

The Moor Park professional had begun the final round five shots behind Eddie Pepperell on four-under and a birdie-birdie start boosted his hopes of bridging the gap to the eventual winner.

Although the 28-year-old dropped a shot at the par three fifth hole, a third birdie on the front nine at the par four seventh kept him firmly in contention for a top-five finish at least.

However, Wallace dropped back to five-under with a bogey five at the 10th and his tournament was to end in disappointing fashion with a shot dropped on four of the last five holes as he finished at one-under.

The result leaves the world number 58, who has won three times on the European Tour this year, 20th in the Race to Dubai standings as the climax to the season looms with three big-money Rolex Series events, the Turkish Airlines Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and DP World Tour Championship.