A misbehaving driver put paid to Jason Day’s hopes of a win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Ohio won in convincing fashion by American Justin Thomas.

One of many players proudly wearing the yellow ribbon in his cap to signify their support of Jarrod Lyle and his family, Day started the final round tied for fourth, four shots behind Thomas.

But after a string of three consecutive birdies to start the back nine the 30-year-old faltered over the closing holes, dropping five shots in the space of five holes to finish tied for 10th.

The Queenslander hit just more than a third of all fairways in his final round and was just 38.89 per cent for greens in regulation, the short game that has been so reliable all season unable to limit the damage on the scorecard on this occasion.

Day and Marc Leishman both began Sunday within striking distance but struggled off the tee over the closing holes and were unable to scramble the pars they needed to keep pace with Thomas who went on to win by four.

Day wasted no time stating his Sunday intentions with a birdie at the opening hole but bogeys at two and eight sucked some of the life out of his tournament hopes.

A monster birdie putt at 10 that answered his pleas to fall got him back to 10-under par and then a superb approach from the left-hand rough set up another birdie at 11 to get within three of the lead.

His tee shot at the 167-yard par-3 12th finished pin high 10 feet to the left of the hole and the curling left-to-right putt that found the bottom of the cup gave him a third straight birdie to reduce the margin to Thomas to just two.

But a missed five-footer at the 13th cost Day a shot and a succession of sprayed tee shots put him under further pressure, resulting in bogey at 14 and a double at 16 where a short chip shot to the tight front pin found a watery grave and sunk the last sliver of hope.

Leishman’s Sunday started in bright fashion with birdies at the second and fourth holes until a bogey at five temporarily halted his charge.

A lengthy birdie opportunity at the par-3 12th never really threatened the cup and a wayward tee shot at 13 eventually led to a bogey at 13 followed by dropped shots at 14, 15 and 16, the Victorian’s final round of 73 resulting in a tie for 14th.

Cameron Smith showed timely signs of life ahead of next week’s PGA Championship with five birdies in his 3-under par round of 67 his best round of the week to finish in a tie for 22nd.

Making his second WGC appearance of the year, Wade Ormsby’s third round of 68 set up a dream pairing with Tiger Woods on Sunday, Ormsby having the better of the group until Woods birdied the 18th hole, the pair both signing for rounds of 3-over 73.

It was very much a mixed week for Adam Scott who had rounds of 68 and 67 offset by 75 in the second round and a final round of 74 that was brought undone by a run of five consecutive bogeys on the back nine.

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Meanwhile, there were some big fish on offer over the weekend at the Barracuda Championship but the contingent of Australians looking to make a move in the FedEx Cup were unable to reel in the points they needed in the modified Stableford format.

Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby and Matt Jones were all positioned to make a move at various stages throughout the tournament but failed to make the progress they needed on Sunday, Jones recording his fifth top-20 result of the year with a score of +7 in the final round to finish tied for 15th.

American Andrew Putnam claimed the first PGA Tour title of his career with a score of +47, four points clear of US veteran Chad Campbell but it will be viewed as a missed opportunity by the Aussies sitting outside the all-important top 125.

Ranked 135th on the FedEx Cup prior to the start of the week, Baddeley had 26 points through the first two rounds but could only advance one point over the closing 36 holes courtesy of birdies at the 13th and 18th holes on Sunday to finish tied for 26th.

Appleby too struggled to make many inroads in the final round, adding three points to his three-round tally of 23 to be tied for 30th, Rod Pampling ending the week at +16 in a tie for 58th.

It was a week to remember for former University of Nevada college star Grant Booth in his PGA Tour debut, the Sydneysider making the cut on the number after coming within inches of an eagle at Montreux Golf and Country Club’s 18th when a greenside bunker shot hit the flag and bounced out.

Playing with a heavy heart given the news of his great friend Jarrod Lyle prior to the start of the tournament, Robert Allenby missed the cut by a single point as did Cameron Percy, Geoff Ogilvy and Steven Bowditch also failing to make the weekend.