Richard Bland has bagged a coveted place in this week’s BMW Masters – keeping alive his hopes of reaching the DP World Tour Championship.

After strong displays in the Hong Kong Open and Perth International, the Stoneham ace is heading to China for the first event of the European Tour’s Final Series.

Bland finished the regular season in 68th place in the Race to Dubai standings, with nearly €400,000 in earnings, which was enough to book him a ticket to this week’s tournament.

The BMW Masters kicks-off the prestigious Final Series, which features four big-money events that only the Tour’s top-performing players qualify for.

Bland, pictured below, will not be in next week’s WGC HSBC Champions, but he will return for the Turkish Airlines Open in mid-November.

If he can climb another eight places and break into the top 60 of the order of merit at the end of that tournament, which will require him to overcome a deficit of almost €60,000, he will go forward to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, in Dubai, which boasts a £5m purse.

Bland is one of 78 players competing this week at the Lake Malaren Golf Club, in Shanghai, for a share of the £4.3m prize fund.

The four-round tournament, which features seven of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team, including fellow Hampshire star Justin Rose, will not involve a cut.

Bland ensured his place in the world-class field after a superb run of form in October.

A share of 25th place at the Alfred Dunhill Links and a tie for fourth place at the Portugal Masters added about another €100,000 in prize money to his season winnings.

That left Bland targeting the Final Series, opting to travel to Hong Kong and then Australia for the final two events of the regular season in a bid to seal his place.

It proved a good decision, as he finished joint-15th in Hong Kong before tying for 21st in Perth, ensuring he finished high enough up the order of merit standings to advance.