Richard Bland ensured this will be his best-ever European Tour season after pocketing a big cheque at the BMW Masters.

The Stoneham ace banked €61,625 after a tied-39th finish in Shanghai, China, taking his season earnings to €458,492.

That tops the €451,271 he won in the 2010 campaign.

Bland, who has three top-ten finishes this season, has also climbed to 65th in the season money list, which would match his effort from four years ago.

He has at least one tournament left this term to improve, however.

While he will not be involved in this week’s WGC HSBC Champions, he will be back next week for the Turkish Airlines Open – the third event of the European Tour’s Final Series, which began at the BMW Masters.

Only the top-performing players from the year make it into these tournaments, which culminate later this month with the DP World Tour Championship, in Dubai.

That event, which is the showpiece of the Tour’s season, will only involve the top 60 players from the order of merit.

Bland will, therefore, need to climb a few places in the standings next week if he is to make it in.

He is currently about €40,000 shy of 60th position, but, with big money on offer in Turkey, the gap is a bridgeable one.

Hampshire’s Justin Rose climbed to fifth on the European Tour money list, with a season total of €1,966,531, after finishing in a tie for fourth at the BMW Masters.