Shane Lowry claimed the biggest cheque of his professional career and his best finish since his Irish Open victory when he tied for third behind Italy's Edoardo Molinari in the €1.5 m Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on Sunday.

Molinari claimed his fourth win of the season and his third in his last five starts when he made a four footer on the second play-off hole to beat Sweden's Robert Karlsson after both players had tied on 13-under 271.

Lowry closed with a four under par 67 to share third with Hirofumi Miyase on seven under par and earn 11.6m yen (around €88,000).

"I played well today but Robert did too," said Molinari who went into the final round with a one-stroke lead over Karlsson and shot a five-under 66 to the Swede's 65. "We pulled away from the rest of the field and had a good battle in the playoff which I was happy to win."

On the final playoff hole, Karlsson missed a 12-foot birdie attempt before 28-year old Molinari closed out his victory in steady rain at the Phoenix Country Club.

Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa shot an even-par 71 to finish in a tie for 20th on one-under with Fiji's Vijay Singh tied for 31st on two-over after a closing 74.

Lowry birdied his first two holes, bogeyed the par three third but then birdied the eighth, 13th and 18th for his first top 10 as a professional.

Since the claimed the Irish Open as an amateur in May, the Esker Hills 22 year old's best finish was tied 28th in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai three weeks ago.