Jason Day was on track for a major miracle at the US PGA Championship until a familiar pattern arose.
Seemingly out of contention at one-over for the week with just 15 holes left the 25-year-old went on an all out tear at Oak Hill Country Club, threatening to shock the golf world.
Seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch rocketed the Queenslander up the leaderboard into third place and just three shots out of the lead.
But right when he knew he was a chance, the wheels started to wobble and eventually fell off, leaving him tied eighth.
Heading to the short par four 14th Day was a good driver swing away from a chance at eagle or perhaps an easy birdie.
But he blocked it way right into the trees and settled for a par.
On the next hole, a par three, where he rates as one of the best scorers on tour, he dumped his tee ball in a bunker and once again settled for par.
From there he was forced to press the issue on the tough final stretch and made three straight bogeys.
“It was really good to have that early stretch of holes but I kind of hit the brakes a little bit,” Day admitted.
“But it’s a tough finish here, the last few holes are really difficult to try and make birdie and when you’re not hitting it down the middle and finding the rough it’s tough enough just to find the greens.”
Day now has six top 10s in majors from 13 starts and was, in relation to par, the equal-best performed player across all four majors this year with Adam Scott.
Only Scott and Day had three top 10 finishes across the four majors.
While early in his major career Day was pretty solid, an inability to close has started to rear an ugly head.
In 2011, Day was second at the Masters and US Open. He showed great fortitude to birdie the last two holes at Augusta to tie the lead only to be run down by Charl Schwartzel.
At Congressional Country Club his second was a distant eight shots behind Rory McIlroy but he showed brilliance with a record 45-hole bogey-free stretch.
After an indifferent 2012 thanks to injuries and the birth of his first child day returned to prominence at Augusta this year.
He stood on the 16th tee Sunday with a two-shot lead only to make bogey on 16 and 17 and fall to third.
At the US Open he came to the 11th tee tied for the lead and hit an iron into deep rough, gouged his next shot into a creek, hit his fourth into more deep rough before making a great chip in for bogey.
While the last shot was all class, the damage had begun and he finished tied second, two behind Justin Rose.
And now his Oak Hill moments will be added to the list.
“Overall I am happy with how I played but obviously once again there are a few things to improve,” he said.
“It’s good to make a run like that on Sunday in a major, and look, the finish wasn’t the way I wanted to finish but that’s just more stuff I need to learn.
“It’s been a good year and it’s going in the right direction and we are always knocking on the door which is kind of nice.”
