Adam Scott’s dream of winning the Claret Jug was extinguished once again but the Australian star leaves Troon with the bonus of having confirmed he will make his 25th straight Open appearance next year.

After a bright start on Sunday, a groan from the gallery surrounding the Par 3 5th hole at Royal Troon on Sunday provided the soundtrack to signal the Queenslander’s hopes of claiming a second major were over.

His attempt to secure the British Open went superbly for the first hour as Scott moved to within two shots of the lead on another day of snakes and ladders for the contenders at Troon, with Xander Schauffele ultimately emerging an outstanding champion.

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But when Scott missed a five-foot putt for par, having recovered from a tricky position with a superb wedge, his hopes deflated like a pricked balloon. And the gallery, who were largely supporting his playing partner Shane Lowry, knew it as well.

In truth, even if Scott had made the par putt, the former world No.1’s hopes of reeling in Schauffele were doubtful given the American’s brilliance, with the world No.2 shooting a 6-under 65 to finish at 9-under.

Scott’s Sunday threatened to spiral out of control when he double-bogeyed the 10th after a wayward drive landed in trouble off the tee, but he fought hard to finish square with a 71 taking his tournament total to 284, nine shots behind Schauffele.

“After the 10th it was kind of over. In the end I was too far back. Yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope, but it would have had to be a super hot front nine,” Scott said.

“But no one really had it except maybe Xander. I don’t know how his card looks. Maybe he’s having a super hot back nine, too. No-one really held him back.

“I made a bad swing on 10 and paid the price, made a mess of that. It’s hard to really sum up. I played fairly well this week (but) didn’t do well in the toughest conditions. That’s how it goes.”

The 44-year-old, who produced a brilliant 66 on Saturday to fight back into contention after a disastrous Friday in which he bogeyed six of the first 12 holes in atrocious conditions, leaves Troon with a top 10 finish and much to look forward to.

Aside from the certainty of knowing he now has a start in the 153rd edition at Portrush in Northern Ireland, Scott is projected to move to 41st in the FedEx Rankings.

While there are six weeks of the PGA Tour remaining, he is now in a strong position to earn a guaranteed start in all the signature PGA Tour events next season.

It also furthers his hopes of featuring in the Presidents Cup in Montreal in late September.

The six automatic qualifiers for the team are confirmed after the BMW Championship in Colorado in late August, while the International Team captain Mike Weir also has six additional picks.

“I’ll hopefully play my way in, and then hopefully I’ll be worthy of a pick. But I’ll worry about that later,” Scott said.

“Obviously I’ve put myself in a better position for a lot of things, and rather than kind of chasing, I can maybe make a decent plan and … not mess that up.

“I’ll figure (my schedule) out over the next couple of days. At least I know for sure no matter what, I’m in the (Tour Championships). That’s only taken seven months to lock that in.”

It is Scott’s best finish in a major championship since 2019 and provided some vindication that a change in his approach midway through last year, when realising he was not as competitive as he hoped to be, was worth the gamble.

Among the most recent changes was a return to the shafts he was using in 2016, which helped Scott finish runner-up in the Scottish Open last week before his tie for 10th at Troon.

“I just felt like the way I was playing just wasn’t relevant enough to contend week after week, and I think some of my performance suffered going off looking to gain in some areas,” he said.

“But it wasn’t a quick fix for me, that, but I do feel like even immediately after that, I saw where I could make the gains, but it’s taken me a while to get comfortable with it.

“I’m just pleased. I’ve been moving a lot of stuff around this year behind the scenes in my head, in my golf bag, and I feel like seven months in (I) finally feel like I can settle a little bit and work a plan, even though there’s a month left of the season.”

It was also a case of what might have been for Jason Day, who closed strongly on Sunday with a 3-under 68 to finish in a tie for 13th, one shot behind Scott at 1-over.

The 12-hole stretch where Scott posted six bogies in shocking conditions on Friday proved costly, while Day was never able to recover from a torrid back nine on Saturday.

But the former world No.1 walked off the 9th hole sporting a big grin on Sunday after recording his fourth birdie in a blemish-free front nine along the Firth of Clyde.

His approach to the seventh, in particular, was exact and left him with a birdie putt of just over one metre, with Day’s 32 the equal best for the day.

Day, who finished runner-up at Royal Liverpool in last year’s Open, birdied the 6th, 7th and 9th holes for the first time this week to give himself hope of a top 10 finish.

But bogeys on the 10th and 15th holes on the run back into the Royal Troon clubhouse dashed his hopes of a top 10 finish, though he did manage to chip in on the 18th.

“It’s beautiful. It’s nice to be able to do that on the 18th, especially in front of everyone, which is nice. I enjoyed the week. The whole week actually was a lot of fun,” he said.

“Troon is a serious test of golf. I always love coming and playing The Open Championship. It’s just a thrill.”