Tournament leader when the third round of the inaugural Sabah Masters was completed early Sunday morning, Gleeson fired a 3-under 68 in the final round to finish level with Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Aman Raj and Phachara Khongwatmai at 13-under par.

A chip-in birdie at the second playoff hole secured the victory for Tangkamolprasert, Gleeson’s tie for second his best result in eight years.

Joint leader after an opening round of 4-under 67 and playing in just his fifth Asian Tour event of the year, Gleeson hinted that he would be more active next year and is excited by how a more mature approach will translate on course.

“I think my game is better than it was back in the past,” Gleeson told the Asian Tour media.

“It’s more complete than back then. I played at a very high sort of emotional level back then. That’s what I have been working on, just to relax and enjoy the game.

“Better pre-shot routines are in place and more routines for the whole week are in place. That’s the goal coming to next year, so let’s keep doing this for, well, until seniors, I guess!

“I just really felt quite good today actually, just within myself, and what shots I was trying to hit. I was actually almost getting close to matching what I was seeing and feeling without sort of worrying about nerves, so you know, that’s a good sign.”

In a strong week for the Australian contingent Daniel Fox took another important step towards retaining his card for 2020 with a tie for eighth with Aaron Wilkin and Travis Smyth also among the top 20 finishers.

West Australian Jason Scrivener capitalised on his first visit to the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai with a stunning final round of 7-under 65 at the Jumeirah Golf Estates to finish tied for 10th.

In addition to moving him up 19 spots on the leaderboard, Scrivener’s result in Dubai saw him rise three places in the final Race to Dubai rankings, the best result of his career.

Queensland’s Brad Kennedy recorded his third top-10 finish in his past four starts on the Japan Golf Tour at a rain-shortened Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Miyazaki.

A 4-under 67 in the third round elevated Kennedy into the top 10 but he wasn’t given the opportunity to advance further on Sunday, organisers cancelling the fourth round and proclaiming Shugo Imahira the victor.

Asian Tour

Sabah Masters

Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club

T2           David Gleeson    66-69-68-68—271            $US22,300

T8           Daniel Fox           71-68-68-68—275            $6,183

T12        Aaron Wilkin       66-71-71-68—276            $4,377

T18        Travis Smyth       70-71-68-69—278            $3,475

T21        Josh Younger      69-71-70-69—279            $3,000

T33        Cory Crawford   70-71-68-72—281            $2,130

T33        Jack Murdoch     70-69-74-68—281            $2,130

T39        Jack Munro         68-75-69-70—282            $1,780

T45        Rick Kulacz          69-68-71-75—283            $1,521

T50        Andrew Martin   72-70-71-71—284            $1,260

67           George Worrall  71-72-75-77—295            $750

MC         Shae Wools-Cobb             74-71—145

MC         Ryan Chisnall      72-74—146

MC         Brett Rankin        76-73—149

MC         Nathan Buzimkic               78-75—153

Japan Golf Tour

Dunlop Phoenix Tournament

Phoenix Country Club, Miyazaki

T8           Brad Kennedy     70-71-67—208   ¥3,939,000

T20        Anthony Quayle 73-70-68—211   ¥1,600,000

T41        Matthew Griffin 72-75-68—215   ¥630,000

T53        Michael Hendry  71-76-71—218   ¥372,000

T56        Brendan Jones    71-75-73—219   ¥357,000

MC         Won Joon Lee    75-75—150

MC         Adam Bland        77-77—154

European Tour

DP World Tour Championship

Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE

T10        Jason Scrivener  71-72-72-65—280            €102,631

T49        Scott Hend          76-75-73-73—297            €23,058

PGA TOUR

RSM Classic

Sea Island Resort, Sea Island, Georgia

T30        Tim Wilkinson     68-66-67-72—273            $US43,230

T43        Rhein Gibson      66-64-74-71—275            $22,148

T72        Matt Jones          70-66-72-73—281            $13,332

MC         Cameron Percy  73-66—139

MC         Aaron Baddeley 73-67—140

MC         Cameron Davis   76-72—148