Marc Leishman stole the show among the Australians at the Dell Technologies Championship but Jason Day again showed his game is ever so close to being back to its best.

Leishman’s outright third place finish in Boston sees him move to seventh on the FedEx Cup standings with two playoff events remaining.

If he can edge up two spots further before the TOUR Championship he will be among the favourites to claim the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus as the top five have a big advantage heading to the final event of the season.

A missed cut at the first playoff event last week was hardly the start Leishman wanted to his playoff campaign and it didn’t reflect the sort of golf he has played all year.

But the disappointment may have provided some extra motivation, the Victorian coming out firing at TPC Boston to be in the mix all week.

Sharing the lead heading into the final round he played a brilliant front nine in 6-under 30 to have the outright lead with nine to play but stumbled with three straight bogeys to start the inward journey.

The mistakes cost him the lead and as playing partner Justin Thomas edged ahead over the closing stages Leishman’s chances came to an end with a fourth bogey of the day at the 17^th.

The final frustration came with a fifth bogey of the back nine at the par-5 18th, a maddening way to finish what had been a fabulous week.

Despite the deflating finish there was a lot to like about Leishman’s play over the four days and with a week off to rest he will be looking for a big comeback at the BMW Championship in two weeks’ time.

For Day the tournament was another example of two steps forward and one back as he continues to mix brilliance with indifference.

The Queenslander held his position inside the top 30 on the FedEx Cup with a T25 finish at TPC Boston and with a week off to work on his game will be eyeing a tilt at the top prize and its $10 million bonus at the end of this month.

Day saved his best till last with a Sunday 66 moving him almost 20 places up the standings after a less than impressive opening 75.

As has been the pattern for much of the year, Day’s good golf was world class but he was unable to consistently string things together.

His Sunday round was a prime example, six birdies on the front nine to go out in 30 followed by two more at the 10^th and 13^th before three dropped shots in the last five holes undid most of the good work.

However Day, like Leishman, will take mostly positives from the week as the next playoff event, to be held in two weeks’ time at Conway Farms, is one where he dominated in 2015.

Opening rounds of 61-63 two years ago all but closed out the field and his eventual six shot win was his fourth in six starts meaning he will have nothing but good memories in Chicago.

Rod Pampling was the only other Australasian to make the cut in Boston but his year came to an end with a tail of the field finish that saw him drop out of the top 70 who advance to the next event.

Adam Scott’s last minute bid to make it to Atlanta also came up short with a missed cut at TPC Boston while Danny Lee will continue on by the narrowest of margins after missing the cut to fall to 69^th in the FedEx Cup.

Cameron Smith was always going to qualify for the BMW event starting the week at 44^th but made the task of teeing up in Atlanta that little bit harder with a missed cut seeing him fall to 56^th.

Only the top 30 qualify for the grand finale, Smith needing a big performance in Chicago if he is to be a part of the final event of the season.