North Middlesex golf club’s Andrew Johnston narrowly missed out on his third win of the European Challenge Tour season after finishing second at the Kazakhstan Open on Sunday.

Johnston, 25, finished with a 17 under par total of 271 - leaving him two shots behind compatriot Sam Hutsby.

Finishing as runner-up to Hutsby earned Johnston € 49,500, his biggest prize pot of the season, and means he is comfortably atop the tour rankings - almost €50,000 ahead of Moritz Lampert in second place.

After winning the Scottish Hydro Challenge and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge earlier in the season, Johnston remains confident he will achieve his aim of finishing top of the rankings.

He said: "The goal is to finish top of the rankings this year, so I just need to keep going and keep doing well, as I’ve worked really hard this year and it is paying off, so I just need to keep doing it.

"It was good this week, even though I started a bit slow, but I have just had such a good weekend. I couldn’t get anywhere near him, not even close. Every time I made a birdie he countered and he was just too good."

Johnstone also paid tribute to Hutsby, who claimed his first tour win: "Sam was amazing today. I played with him on the second day when he shot nine under, but in many ways today was even better, he was awesome. That is one of the best rounds I’ve seen."