It took a hole-out bunker shot from Frenchman Victor Perez on the 71st hole to separate himself from the West Australian, who had one last shot of his own on the tournament’s final hole.

Trailing by three and with Perez in the clubhouse at 18-under, Lee needed to chip in for eagle from 41 yards on the par-5 18th.

Revelling in the opportunity to put on a show, Lee brought the crowd to their feet with an attempt that released, rolled back down the hill and came to rest just a foot to the right of the hole.

Perez’s earlier bogey would prove to be enough to secure a one-stroke victory, Lee’s consolation a second-place finish worth €719,145.60 ($A1.12m).

It also elevated the 24-year-old to second on the Race to Dubai rankings and is projected to push him to No.49 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Including his top-four finishes on home soil over summer, Lee now has top-four finishes in five of his past seven starts, his worst finish a tie for 12th at the DP World Tour Championship.

Perez got off to a stunning start on day four, reeling off six birdies in the first 11 holes to reach the summit before dropping his first shot of the day at the 14th.

That opened the door for the chasing pack, with Lee joining him at the top of the leaderboard.

Perez bounced back with a 13-foot birdie at the 15th before pitching his tricky bunker shot at the 17th on to the green and spinning it in for a miracle birdie.

It was an excellent start to the year too for West Australian Jason Scrivener.

Runner-up at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in November, the 33-year-old started his final round with nine straight pars before picking off four birdies in the space of five holes after making the turn.

The leader after day one, Scrivener’s closing round of four-under 68 pushed him up to a tie for seventh and fifth on the Race to Dubai rankings.

Jason Day’s front-nine fireworks petered out after the turn as he finished tied for 18th at The American Express in California.

A 15-footer for birdie on the first set the tone for a front-nine of six-under 30, the highlight a birdie from 43 feet at the par-3 sixth followed by birdies from 20 feet and 16 feet at seven and nine.

A bogey at 10 quelled his momentum and was unable to drag it back, closing out his fourth top-20 finish of the season with eight straight pars.

Weekend rounds of 67-66 continued Harrison Endycott’s strong start to his rookie season, a tie for 22nd the second time he has finished inside the top 25.

New Zealand’s defending Charles Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker picked up where he left off on the Champions Tour.

Alker was second six strokes behind Steve Stricker at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Rod Pampling tied for 29th in the 42-man field.

Five of the heavy Aussie contingent enjoyed success at Final Stage of Asian Tour Qualifying School, Jack Thompson finishing on the top of the leaderboard after 90 holes of golf.

Sydney’s John Lyras was tied for second as Doug Klein, Jack Murdoch and Tom Power Horan also secured playing status in Asia in 2023.

Results

DP World Tour
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Yas Links Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
1            Victor Perez       71-65-68-66—270           €1,413,349.74
T2          Min Woo Lee     68-69-66-68—271           €719,145.60
T7          Jason Scrivener 65-70-72-68—275           €214,496.61
T46        Daniel Hillier      72-68-73-69—282           €39,906.35
T65        Ryan Fox             71-66-79-73—289           €19,537.48

PGA TOUR
The American Express
Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta, California
1            Jon Rahm           64-64-65-68—261           $US1.44m
T16        Danny Lee (NZ)  67-68-67-65—267           $134,000
T18        Jason Day           67-64-70-67—268           $110,000
T22        Harrison Endycott           65-71-67-66—269           $80,400
T50        Aaron Baddeley 71-68-65-70—274           $19,880
MC        Cam Davis          72-71-70—213

Asian Tour
Final Stage Qualifying School
Lake View Resort and Golf Club, Hua Hin, Thailand
1            Jack Thompson 68-70-65-64-66—333
T2          John Lyras          65-69-67-66-68—335
T13        Nick Voke (NZ)  66-73-67-73-64—343
T13        Doug Klein          72-65-68-69-69—343
T26        Jack Murdoch    71-70-69-69-67—346
T34        Tom Power Horan          70-73-70-67-67—347
T43        Aaron Wilkin      69-65-75-70-69—348
T43        Dimitrios Papadatos       74-68-67-69-70—348
T43        Denzel Ieremia (NZ)        69-66-70-75-68—348
T53        Hayden Hopewell           68-71-70-69-71—349
T58        Dylan Perry        71-69-71-70-69—350
T70        Louis Dobbelaar              69-69-70-71-75—354
T74        Kevin Chun (NZ) 71-73-70-67-74—355
T88        Deyen Lawson   68-72-73-70—283
T88        Kade McBride    72-71-69-71—283
T95        Connor McKinney           68-74-70-72—284
T95        Peter Wilson      69-68-72-75—284
T95        Charlie Dann     71-73-74-66—284
MC        Brett Rumford   71-74—145
MC        Aaron Pike          72-73—145
MC        Doeun An           71-75—146
MC        James Hydes (NZ, a)       76-71—147
MC        Austin Bautista  74-74—148
MC        David Gleeson   84-83—167
DQ         Sam Brazel         75

Champions Tour
Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai
Hualalai Golf Course, Hawaii
1            Steve Stricker    68-60-65—193  $US340,000
T2          Steven Alker (NZ)            69-67-63—199  $137,000
T29        Rod Pampling    71-71-68—210  $17,500

Legends Tour
Qualifying School – Final Stage
Gloria Golf Resort, Belek, Turkey
MC        Guy Wall             73-75-74—222

Korn Ferry Tour
The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club
Royal Blue Golf Club, Great Abaco, Bahamas
Round 1
T10        Curtis Luck         70
T59        Brett Drewitt     73
T107      Rhein Gibson     76