Following a first-round loss in 1951, Lee did not play a competitive match for twenty-three years; however, he entered the 1974 World Championship and was seeded to the first round. There, he met John Pulman, but scored only 210 points as the latter whitewashed him 8–0. Playing in the tournament earned Lee £150, the only prize money of his career, but he did not enter a professional tournament again.