Michael Hendry continues to be the standout Australasian on the 2017 Japan Tour with a third-place finish at the prestigious Visa Taiheiyo Masters at the weekend.

With six top-10 finishes in 15 starts, Hendry has climbed to 15^th on the money list and is on track to be the leading money winner from this part of the world for the first time since joining the tour in 2013.

His T3 result behind Sotaishi Kodara is bettered only by his runner-up finish at the Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open in July, that performance earning him a start at Royal Birkdale.

He holds a AU$195,000 lead over Queensland’s Brad Kennedy in the race to be top Australasian earner though that gap is likely to close with the New Zealander not listed in the field for this week’s lucrative Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

Kennedy was among the next best Australasians at the Visa Taiheiyo event, he and Adam Bland sharing 18^th place at 8-under for the week and six behind Hendry.

Brendan Jones was a stroke further back and T23 while Matt Griffin (T44) and Kurt Barnes (T51) were the only other Australians in the field.