It was a case of two steps forward and one step back for Adam Scott at The Players, the 2004 champion seemingly unable to get on a roll on his way to finishing top Australian at the prestigious event.

A 4-under back nine Sunday after turning 2-over was enough to see Scott into T6 but while a good result it was a week of what could have been in Florida.

Walking off the 15th green on Thursday 6-under par and holding a one shot lead, what happened on Scott’s final two holes on day one became a metaphor for the week to come.

He missed his landing spot at the iconic par-3 17^th by just a few feet and watched in shock as his ball trickled back in to the water.

A double bogy followed, Scott then compounding the error with a poor drive at the last which led to another water ball with his second and another double bogey.

The TPC Sawgrass layout is famed for favouring no particular style of player but rewarding those who are playing precisely and while he looked close all week Scott wasn’t quite at his best and the paid the price.

Rounds of 70-72-71-70 included 17 birdies, enough for Scott to contend if not off-set by eight bogeys and his two Thursday doubles.

Good putting over the first three rounds, where he was in the positive in the Strokes Gained category, were a highlight from the week for a player whose ball striking is usually his best asset.

Scott was one of seven Australians to start the week with four making the cut.

Defending champion Jason Day had a similar week to Scott making enough birdies to be among the contenders but falling away on the back of too many mistakes.

His final round 80, which included a nine at the par-5 16^th, was a less than fair indication of the quality of his play throughout the tournament though it was a disappointing week nonetheless.

Having gone wire to wire last year Day started in similar fashion to Scott, climbing to the top of the leaderboard in round one before dropping three shots late to be mid-field though 18 holes.

A pedestrian 72 on day two was followed by an adventurous third round, where he posted six birdies amongst two double bogeys and three other dropped shots, the 73 effectively ending his title defence.

Day eventually finished T60 after the miserable finish to his Sunday, the humiliation of making nine at 16 aggravated by a water ball double bogey at the 17^th.

Aaron Baddeley and Rod Pampling were the others to make the cut, Baddeley finishing the week T42 at 3-over and Pampling T48 one shot further back.

Cameron Smith impressed in the opening round on debut with a 1-under 71 but fell victim to the famed TPC Sawgrass Friday with a 77 that included a double at the island green 17^th.

Marc Leishman was in decent position after an opening 73 but a roller coaster second round, which included just five pars among eight bogeys and five birdies, saw him miss the weekend by two shots.

Greg Chalmers was well outside the required number after rounds of 73-77.