Scott was, not for the first time, the leading Australian over the four days, finishing in joint-10th place – his sixth top-10 finish at the Open – while Day, last year’s runner-up, had to settle for joint-13th, a shot further behind on Sunday.
Day, who had been among the earlier starters in slightly friendlier conditions, recorded four birdies on his spectacular outward nine, the best performance among the Sunday morning advance guard, pushing back to level par at the turn.
When he holed an outrageous 60ft putt from off the front of the 9th green for an outlandish birdie, the 36-year-old former world No.1 found himself just four shots off the pace before the leaders had even begun to go out – and with the weather due to get worse. It was time to dream a little.
Once again, though, on the home stretch, just as on Saturday, a couple of wayward drives, at the 10th and the 14th holes, with the wind getting up, led to bogeys and proved enough to derail any realistic hopes of him making a charge.
Day did, however, enjoy a wonderful farewell to the tournament at the 18th, when he splashed out of a greenside bunker into the hole to finish with a three-under 68, one of the best rounds of the day, and a one-over par total 285.
Jason Day had a solid week at Royal Troon, he heads to the Olympic Games as one of the main medal hopes. PHOTO: Getty Images.
“Oh, it was beautiful,” he said of his splash-in. “I mean, it’s nice to be able to do that on the 18th, especially in front of everyone. I enjoyed the week, the whole week actually was a lot of fun.”
Scott, who could hardly believe he had begun the day within four shots of the overnight lead after his fine 66 on Saturday, reckoned he would need a “hell of a round” to shoot for the title he’s always coveted.
And for a fleeting 20 minutes, it looked as if the dream really might be on in his 24th straight Open as he birdied the first with an eight-foot putt and the third with a 15-footer to suddenly lie within just two of the lead.
That, sadly, was as good as it got, though.
The 44-year-old, who had made a late charge the previous Sunday to finish second in the Scottish Open down the road at North Berwick, bogeyed the short 5th when he found the greenside rough and then suffered a double-bogey calamity at the 10th when he couldn’t extricate himself from the rough stuff.
He holed a long one at the 12th for birdie and then parred his way round for a level-par 71, while also covering the four days in even par.
