England’s Richard Finch is one of the European Tour’s more quiet, understated players, preferring his golf to do his talking, but he could hardly avoid the limelight when in 2008, on the final hole and in the lead at the Irish Open, he fell into the river from a hazardous stance, before going on, dripping wet, to hole out for the biggest win of his career to date.

34-year-old Finch earned his Tour card in 2004 through Q-school, having previously won the prestigious English Amateur Championship; something of an all-round soprtsman, he eventually chose golf over football, cricket, tennis and badminton, all of which he excelled at.

Having come close to getting back into the winner’s enclosure with three second-place finishes in 2010 and 2011, Finch had endured a disappointing start to his 2012 campaign before coming good and finding some form at the Volvo China Open.

He finished third at Binhai Lake behind champion Branden Grace and runner-up Nicolas Colsaerts, and, as the Belgian had already qualified for the Volvo World Match Play Championship through the 2012 Race to Dubai Rankings, Finch clinched his opportunity for the Finca Cortesín showpiece with both hands.

Richard Finch qualified for the 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship as the highest-ranked and available player not already qualified at the 2010 Volvo China Open.