In just his second Masters appearance Cameron Smith confirmed his status as a future contender at the year’s first Major with a stunning performance to finish T5.

Smith upstaged more fancied countrymen Adam Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman with a steady opening three rounds before lighting up the back-9 Sunday to storm into the top-10.

Playing alongside World Number 1 Dustin Johnson on Sunday, Smith was far from overwhelmed and outplayed the 2016 U.S. Open winner by three shots with a superb 66.

It was an excellent week for the Australian contingent with all four making the cut but Smith’s performance stood out.

Marc Leishman entered the weekend just two shots off the pace before fading over the final two days while Jason Day and Adam Scott never really found their mojo.

Smith stole the show among the Australians, his week highlighted by a run of four straight birdies from the 12^th to 15^th holes on Sunday and capped by a fifth at the difficult 17^th.

He was close to a better result after a makeable eagle putt at the 15^th narrowly slid past the hole and another for birdie at the last did the same.

After a laser like iron to less than 10 feet at the second of the back-9 par-5’s Smith just missed the putt, though his par at the following hole almost made up for the disappointment.

Missing the par-3 16th short right, he pitched across the bunker and up the bank, almost emulating the famed Tiger Woods chip in from 2005 as his ball came to rest just inches from the hole.

Smart golf over the first three rounds gave Smith the freedom to produce his best in the final round, scores of 71-72-70 seeing him to Sunday at 3-under and just outside the top-10.

Smith negotiated the front-9 in the final round at even par but put the icing on a special week with his back-9 fireworks.

“I felt as though I struck it really good all day and probably left a few out there on the front to be honest. And then saw a really good putt go in on 10 and I just needed to see one go in the hole from a bit of distance and I sort of carried that on,” said Smith.

“That was pretty exciting for me. I hit three really good shots into the last three holes to only get one birdie out of it. I just stuck to my guns and stayed aggressive and kept kind of pulling it off. To do that late on Sunday was pretty cool.”

While this week certainly ranks high on his career highlights and has earned him a place at Augusta National again next year, Smith still rates his win at the 2017 Australian PGA Championship as his greatest achievement to date.

“I think my win down in Australia was the most satisfying for me because I had the family there,” said Smith.

“Top-10 at the Masters [is great]. I’ve had a couple of good finishes in Majors, but The Masters is the big hype and to finish up there was awesome.

“It definitely secures a spot for next year and that’s a big bonus. I’m getting used to the course and the tricks around here, which is nice. I can’t wait to get back.”

Leishman also finished in the top-10 though will feel he let one slip after his opening two rounds had him just two off the pace.

The laid-back Victorian played well on Saturday but couldn’t buy a putt in a 1-over 73 that dropped him eight shots behind playing partner Patrick Reed.

The disappointment continued on the front-9 on Sunday but after falling to 3-over for the day through 11 holes, Leishman finally got some putts to drop notching up five birdies in the last seven holes adding up to a final round 70 and a ninth place finish.

Jason Day leaves Augusta with mixed feelings after playing well in patches but not showing enough consistency to be any higher than T20.

His final round back-9 was symptomatic of his week where he worked hard to get to 3-under for the day through 15 holes before giving back two shots at 16 and 17 for an ultimately disappointing 71.

Adam Scott got off to a poor start with an opening 75 and while he improved every day admitted he never really had his best stuff all week.

He finished with scores of 73-70-71 to be 1-over par for the 72 holes and T32, not the result he wanted though he said after his final round he would take some positives for the rest of the season.

“It wasn’t really my week but there was some good stuff out there on the weekend,” said Scott.

“Something to take away and hopefully get some momentum going here on Tour pretty soon.”