Former Australian Open runner-up Won Joon Lee has recorded his best finish of 2018, finishing tied for fifth at the Japan Golf Tour’s RIZAP KBC Augusta 2018 tournament at the Keya Golf Club in Fukuoka.

Tied for the lead entering the final round and still in search of his first major win as a professional, Lee had two bogeys and two birdies on each nine on Sunday to finish with an even-par round of 72, three shots back from winner Daijiro Izumida.

It was an extraordinary start to the tournament for Lee who holed out three times in his opening round – twice for eagle and once for birdie – and required just 22 putts in his first round 66 to put himself right in contention.

A second 66 in the third round had him level with Izumida after 54 holes at 11-under par but bogeys at the first and fourth holes, a three-putt bogey on 10 and another dropped shot at the par-3 12th prevented him from keeping pace with Izumida who had opened up a three-shot gap by the turn.

Once ranked as high as 290 in the world after a stellar amateur career, Lee played just nine tournaments in 2012-2013 and dropped as low as 1,508 in the rankings but is enjoying something of a resurgence on the Japan Golf Tour.

This was his third top-20 finish this year and his prizemoney of Y3,800,000 moved him up to 53rd on the Japan Golf Tour moneylist.

Fellow Australians Aaron Townsend and Brendan Jones both finished tied for 11th at 9-under par, Anthony Quayle two shots further back in a tie for 23rd.

New Zealand’s Michael Hendry fired his best round of the week on Sunday – a 3-under par 69 – to finish tied for 42nd while Matthew Griffin was tied for 52nd.

David Bransdon and Scott Strange both missed the cut.