A third round of 3-over 74 may have brought his title defence undone but Jason Day saved something special for the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte.

Beginning the final round just inside the top-30, Day fired a two-under par round of 69 to finish the week tied for 24th, American Max Homa claiming the first PGA TOUR title of his career by three strokes following a weather delay with just a few holes left to play.

With rounds of 68-69 to start the week Day showed that he had no intention of relinquishing his title without a fight, believing he could contend over the weekend despite trailing 36-hole leader Jason Dufner by six shots.

A birdie at his second hole on Saturday sent him on the right trajectory to make a move in the third round but a lost ball with his tee shot at the par-5 7th blotted his scorecard with a double bogey from which he was unable to recover.

After starting Sunday with five straight pars at the demanding Quail Hollow layout, Day dropped a shot at the par-3 6th but bounced back in spectacular style, driving the green at the 305-yard par-4 8th and making the 34-foot putt for eagle.

Three straight birdies from the 14th hole on his back-9 helped to get the competitive juices flowing and give the world No.14 something to build on two weeks out from the US PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.

A Sunday 71 saw Matt Jones complete a solid week in a tie for 38th while two double bogeys in the first five holes of his final round sent John Senden crashing 32 spots down the leaderboard in the final round to be tied for 54th.