Jason Day and his putter could be heading for a divorce after the flat stick cruelled his bid for a maiden major at the PGA Championship.
Day led the field at Valhalla Golf Club in greens in regulation but could not buy a putt during three of his four rounds, leaving the Queenslander in a tie for 15th, seven shots off Rory McIlroy’s triumph.
The 26-year-old held a share of the lead on two separate occasions in the third round and was just one off the pace early on Sunday but despite creating several birdie chances could not get the ball to drop into the cup and ended up as one of only two players in the top 23 to shoot over par on Sunday (72).
Day finished the tournament ranked 67th of the 74 players to make the cut in strokes gained putting.
“If I could have got the putter going early obviously the confidence would have changed. I am a little frustrated right now,” Day told AAP.
“Right now it just doesn’t feel like anything is going to go in so it’s a bit of a mental thing.
“The speed isn’t quite there, the line isn’t quite there but then you mix that into the lack of confidence and it is tough.”
In his opening four holes of the final round Day missed three makeable putts for birdie but miraculously was still in the mix when a longer 27-foot putt dropped on the fifth hole.
At just one off the lead he then three-putted the sixth green, missing a four-foot par putt and then added another bogey on the seventh to slip out of contention.
Day said he would try to find his mojo on the practice greens before an assault on the US PGA tour playoffs.
After an average effort at the British Open and a withdrawal from the WGC event in Ohio he started the week with limited expectations.
“My performance was a lot better than I have been playing in the last few weeks so there is some positives to take forward,” he said.
“I was co-leading yesterday and had a chance Sunday.
“Right now I really just need to cool off and try to get my head around what I need to do to win one of these things.”
Like Day, Adam Scott was not happy to finish tied 15th.
His trademark ball striking was off at Valhalla and he failed to get deep into the tournament at any stage.
“I just didn’t play very good overall. I tried my hardest but I am a bit disappointed not to have played better,” Scott said.
“You always want to play your best at a major and this time I didn’t.”
Fellow Australians Matt Jones and Geoff Ogilvy finished up their tournament with rounds of 71 to be one-under for the week, while Marc Leishman (69) posted his first under-par round to join his countrymen in a tie for 47th.
