Marc Leishman has cemented his position as the standout Australian golfer of the 2017 season riding a brilliant weekend at Royal Birkdale to a top-10 finish.

Leishman posted scores of 66-65 on Saturday and Sunday to finish four shots and 16 places ahead of Adam Scott and the only Australian under par at 4-under.

Starting the weekend in a share of 61^st place, Leishman raced up the standings with his weekend brilliance despite another week of statistically poor driving.

Leishman was 93^rd in the field in driving with just 25 of 56 fairways hit over the four days, similar statistics to his U.S. Open performance at Erin Hills.

The result is the latest highlight in a remarkably consistent year for the Victorian who claimed his second PGA TOUR victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

He moved from 15^th to 12^th on the FedEx Cup standings where he is a comfortable 26 places ahead of next best Cameron Smith.

Like many in the field Leishman will rue the poor conditions Friday when he slumped to a 76 with four bogeys and a double.

After opening with a solid 69 Leishman was in good position before the wind and rain struck on day two but his final 36 holes will only fuel his confidence ahead of the PGA at Quail Hollow next month.

While Leishman will leave Birkdale with only positive feelings there will be less celebration for Australia’s two highest ranked players, Jason Day and Adam Scott.

Day handled Friday’s appalling weather conditions brilliantly for 15 holes but finish, in his own words, ‘in a coffin’.

Poor drives at 16, 17 and 18 saw him make three straight sixes, five shots gone and from 1-over and on the edge of contention he was in danger of missing the cut.

Eventually qualifying for the weekend on the number, Day produced some brilliant golf on day three with a 65 that could easily have been three shots lower to move inside the top-20.

That momentum, however, didn’t last with Day making double bogey at the opening hole Sunday on his way to an eventual 1-over 71 and T27 finish.

Consistency has been an issue for Day all year and while at his best he is the equal of any player in the world he has been at less than that for much of the season.

Adam Scott, too, will feel like he let an opportunity slip after failing to make a move on a low scoring day three.

The 2013 Masters champion was on the edge of contention after opening 69-74 but while the rest of the field went low Saturday he could only manage a birdie and a bogey for even par.

That cost him eight places in the field and while a Sunday 67 to move up 21 spots to T22 was encouraging it was an overall frustrating week.

Aaron Baddeley’s Sunday 64 was the highlight of the week for the two-time Australian Open winner, the 6-under score bettered by only one player on the day.

Baddeley’s eventual T27 finish was easily his best at The Open, six missed cuts and a T69 in 2014 his previous record.

Andrew Dodt and Scott Hend were the last of the Australians to make the cut, Dodt acquitting himself well after qualifying at the last minute with a T44 finish while Hend will be disappointed with his Sunday play.

After a brilliant Saturday 65, including a run of five consecutive birdies on the back nine, Hend fell away in the final round with two double bogeys and two bogeys against two birdies for a 74 and T54 result.

Missing the cut were New Zealanders Ryan Fox and Michael Hendry as well as Adam Bland, Matt Griffin, Ryan McCarthy, Ash Hall and Cameron Smith.