Needing to make up four strokes on Austrian Sepp Straka in the final round at the Pete Dye Stadium Course at La Quinta, Day had narrowed the gap to within three early in the back nine.

With Straka on the back fringe, Day had less than 17 feet for birdie at the par-4 14th yet ran the tricky downhiller four-feet past. The return four-footer horse-shoed wickedly from the right edge and spat out on the left, the resulting bogey a setback in Day’s late chase.

A two-shot swing at the par-5 16th gave the 37-year-old Queenslander a sniff yet a self-confessed “uncommitted” swing off the par-5 18th led to a closing bogey and a share of third.

“I wish I could have had the 18th tee ball back, it was a very uncommitted shot there,” said Day after his best finish since he was runner-up at The Open in 2023.

“But overall I feel like the stats this week were very solid from tee to green. Could have done a little bit better on the greens, but I think with a lie/loft adjustment and then also some putting practice, I think that should be back on top of it.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in contention like that, so it’s nice to be able to stand there and hit some of the shots that I did knowing that, under the pump, you still got some really good stuff in there.

“Let’s just kind of build on that going forward.”

Another Aussie with plenty to build from after his first outing for 2025 is Victorian David Micheluzzi.

Embarking on his second year on the DP World Tour, Micheluzzi had a share of the lead after Round 1 of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Course in Dubai.

He, Jason Scrivener and Min Woo Lee all spent time inside the top 10 on the leaderboard through the four days, Micheluzzi shooting 65 in the final round to earn a share of eighth to climb to 13th on the Race to Dubai Ranking.

The 54-hole leader, Kiwi Daniell Hillier rose to second in the Race to Dubai Ranking courtesy of his runner-up finish, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton holding off Hillier to win by one.

Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

Results

PGA TOUR
The American Express
Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta, California
1          Sepp Straka      65-64-64-70—263       $US1.584m     
T3        Jason Day        64-66-67-69—266       $519,200
T19      Cam Davis                   69-67-67-69—272       $125,400
MC       Aaron Baddeley           74-68-69—211

DP World Tour
Hero Dubai Desert Classic
Emirates GC, Dubai, UAE
1          Tyrrell Hatton               71-65-68-69—273       €1,486,699.47
2          Daniel Hillier (NZ)         68-65-70-71—274       €961,982.01
T8        David Micheluzzi          65-73-75-65—278       €207,263.40
T10      Ryan Fox (NZ)               68-70-69-72—279       €156,759.34
T17      Min Woo Lee                71-66-73-72—282       €111,065.20
T21      Jason Scrivener            67-69-74-73—283       €94,886.41
T37      Adam Scott                  71-71-69-75—286       €55,095.33
T58      Elvis Smylie                  74-68-72-75—289       €25,361.34

Korn Ferry Tour
The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island
Ocean Club Golf Course at Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas
After Round 1
T83      Rhein Gibson               73
T113    Harry Hillier (NZ)          77

The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis
The Ocean Club Golf Course at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
1          Hank Lebioda              67-62-67-66—262       $US180,000
Won on the first hole of sudden-death playoff
T39      Rhein Gibson               65-72-66-70—273       $5,000
MC       Harry Hillier (NZ)          72-70—142

PGA TOUR Champions
Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai
Hualalai GC, Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii
1          Ernie Els                       67-65-66—198 $US340,000
T5        Steven Alker (NZ)         70-66-65—201 $93,000
T15      Rod Pampling              69-66-70—205 $35,000
T19      Mark Hensby               69-71-66—206 $27,200