Jason Day faded away in the final round of The Masters as Rory McIlroy held on to successfully defend his green jacket.
Day was in contention going into Masters Sunday, but dropped down to T12 after a disappointing three-over 75.
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The Australian finished his tournament on five-under, seven shots adrift of the champion at Augusta National.
Day shared his frustration following his final round, which did end on a hugely positive note as he secured his spot at The Masters for 2027.
Jason Day admits he putted ‘quite poorly’ in his final round of The Masters
With the top 12 players and ties earning their place in next year’s tournament, Day was asked afterwards if he was aware of the importance of his final putt.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously I walked in so I had a look,” he replied. “Obviously it’s nice to be able to come back next year but a little disappointing.
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“Actually played okay. Just didn’t take advantage of two, three. You get birdies there, that obviously changes the storyline a little bit going… then obviously had a mistake on seven.
“Actually hit 13 greens and played pretty good. Just didn’t capitalize on any opportunities. Putted actually quite poorly today. So a little unfortunate, but just how it goes.
“I mean, pretty positive about my game. Other than just the lack of putting today. But other than that, it was, yeah, okay.”
Day carded rounds of 69, 71, and 68 before his final round 75, which did not include a single birdie but did feature a field-high 16 pars, along with one bogey and one double bogey.
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And he was right to single out his efforts on the greens on Sunday, with only Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka having putted worse statistically.
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Jason Day falls short in emulating Justin Rose at The Masters
Day had the perfect playing partner for motivation in his final round at Augusta, which he took on alongside Justin Rose.
Regularly a huge threat at The Masters, the Englishman enjoyed another successful day to finish just two shots behind McIlroy.
Referencing Rose when discussing his belief at Augusta, Day said: “Yeah, I know I can play well around here.
“It’s just obviously when you get the opportunities just take them. You know, sometimes you have to take them.
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“Sometimes you have to take some unnecessary risk and sometimes you got to take a step back and play the way you need to play.
“Unfortunately I just didn’t play the way that I needed to. Obviously I was watching Rosey on the front side and he got off to a dream start.
“That’s kind of the… in my mind that’s kind of where I saw a lot of birdies, minus-5, what he did. But, a lot of the birdies that he made I saw those and just didn’t get myself in the position.”
Carding a two-under 70 on Masters Sunday, Rose posted six birdies throughout the day, along with eight pars and four bogeys.
But like Day he was forced to settle for another McIlroy victory, which should give both former world number ones huge motivation to make strong runs once again next year.
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Also a former world number one, the Northern Irishman is now a six-time major winner, while the Australian and the Englishman each have one career win.
Read more:
Tyrrell Hatton gives his feelings on Rory McIlroy winning The Masters for the second time running
Rory McIlroy names the player he wanted to win The Masters if he didn’t
Rory McIlroy confirms what he did on the driving range on Saturday night at The Masters
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