Trying to add to his Scottish Open victory in July, Lee began the final round at the Greg Norman designed Fire Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates three strokes adrift of Dane Joachim B Hansen.

The 23-year-old began by making birdie at the opening hole for the fourth straight day and added two more by the turn to play the front nine in three-under 33.

He was the beneficiary of a tight call in search of a lost ball at the par-4 10th and after adding his fourth birdie of the day at the par-4 12th kept the top of the leaderboard in his sights.

Back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15 would ultimately cruel his hopes as he closed with birdies at 16 and 18 for a final round of four-under 68 and a share of fourth, three shy of Hansen’s winning total of 23-under.

Unsure he would even play the event after a gruelling season, Lee’s top-five result is projected to move him up to a career-high of 51st in the world rankings and fifth in the Race to Dubai standings with just one event left to play.

No Australian has finished inside the top-five on the European Tour Order of Merit since Robert Allenby back in 1996 and by qualifying for the DP World Tour Championship for the first time Lee is likely to get another world ranking boost next week and move inside the top-50.

Fellow West Australian Jason Scrivener will enter the season finale 15th in the Race to Dubai standings after he closed with a 68 to finish tied for 31st while Scott Hend’s missed cut saw him fall outside the top-121 who maintain DP World Tour membership.

Sydney’s Steph Kyriacou remains fourth on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit with one event left to play, finishing tied for 10th at the Aramco Team Series-Jeddah event with a final round of even par 72.

After taking a share of the lead on day one Marc Leishman closed with a 72 to finish tied for 19th at the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, one shot behind Cam Smith (69) who moved up into a share of 15th on the final day.

Dylan Perry recorded his third top-15 finish of the Japan Golf Tour at the VISA Taiheiyo Masters while Su Oh was a big winner at the LPGA Tour’s Pelican Women’s Championship, walking away with a Lamborghini for two years after an ace at the par-3 12th, the seventh of her career.

RESULTS

PGA Tour
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open
T15 Cameron Smith
T19 Marc Leishman
T54 Adam Scot, Jason Day
MC Cam Davis

European Tour
AVIV Dubai Championship
T4 Min Woo Lee
T31 Jason Scrivener
MC Scott Hend

Japan Golf Tour
Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
T15 Dylan Perry
T43 David Bransdon
T45 Anthony Quayle
T57 Todd Sinnott

LPGA Tour
Pelican Women’s Championship
T40 Katherine Kirk
T52 Su Oh
MC Sarah Kemp, Sarah Jane Smith

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series Jeddah
T10 Steph Kyriacou
MC Whitney Hillier

PGA Tour Champions
Charles Schwab Cup Championship
T27 Rod Pampling