Day slips away for bad end to year

JASON Day has squandered his last chance to ensure 2017 was not a winless year.

At the Tour Championship in Atlanta yesterday, a finalround 74 saw Australia’s world No. 6 finish 10 shots behind winner Xander Schauffele at the US PGA Tour playoffs finale. Schauffele carded a two-under par 68 for a 12under 268 and a one-shot win over Justin Thomas (66), whose runner-up finish was enough to clench the $10 million FedEx Cup title from points leader Jordan Spieth.

For 29-year-old Day, the East Lake Golf Club tournament was a snapshot of a disappointing season.

Starting the day four six shots off the lead and an outside chance to claim his first Tour title since May last year, his two-under total left him tied for 17th. It came after he briefly held a share of the lead in the third round at the elite 30-man Tour Championship only to fade away over the last 27 holes. It capped a series of missed opportunities this year, which have resulted in Day drifting from a 47-week stint as world No.1.

In August, Day let slip an opportunity to bag a second career major at the US PGA Championship, when a puzzling choice to go for the green from the trees on the last hole of the third round led to a quadruple bogey and opened the door for Thomas.

In May, the Ohio-based Queenslander lost a sudden- death playoff to Billy Horschel at the Byron Nelson Classic, when he missed a relatively simple metre putt.

But he hopes a first visit to Australia since 2013 in November will help reignite his golf game in the same fashion as three-time major champion Spieth. Spieth used his 2014 and 2016 Australian Open victories as a springboard to claiming the 2015 Masters and US Open, as well as the British Open this year.

“Coming down to Australia has obviously been great for Jordan’s career; both times he’s won the Aussie Open he’s won [at least] a major the next year,” Day said.

With countryman Adam Scott also winless in 2017, it was the first year since 2012 at least one of the two Australian big guns failed to record a Tour victory.

However, Victorian native Marc Leishman stepped up to the plate with a breakout season highlighted by two Tour titles and seven top-10s and 16 top-25 results.