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.

Jason Day has promised to be the leader that the Internationals team needs him to be after conceding that his attitude in previous Presidents Cup has not been at the level that should be expected.

Currently sixth in Presidents Cup standings but the top-ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings of those players vying for a place on Ernie Els’ Internationals team, Day will be a crucial cog in their efforts to overthrow the American team at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from December 12.

Day will partner 2013 World Cup of Golf-winning partner Adam Scott at this week’s PGA TOUR Zurich Classic that sees two-man teams play fourballs and foursomes on alternate days.

It is a rare chance for members of the Internationals team to play such a format outside the Presidents Cup itself and will give Els invaluable insight into possible pairings for Melbourne later in the year.

Ranked No.14 in the world, Day last played in Australia at the 2017 Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club and has promised to take on more responsibility when he arrives at Royal Melbourne in December.

“It has to start at the top, and I’ve made mistakes with regards to not mentally being there,” Day said of his performances in end-of-season events such as the Presidents Cup.

“You can obviously see my results in Korea and I wasn’t mentally there unfortunately with regards to being there for the team when needed, performing for the team.

“That was one Presidents Cup that we had a very good opportunity to win, and sometimes you have to look at leadership and ask the questions why.

“For me, I made the mistake and I need to understand we’ve got 11 other guys on the team that are trying just as hard or trying even harder than myself.

“I’ve got to pick the slack up so you’re fighting for everyone else that’s on the team.”

In four appearances for the Internationals team since 2011 Day has a record of five wins, 11 losses and four halved matches, splitting his four singles matches with wins over Brandt Snedeker (2013) and Charley Hoffman (2015) and going down to Hunter Mahan (2011) and Zach Johnson (2017).

Now 31 years of age, Day is determined to follow the lead of Scott and take on a more senior role with the team in 2019.

“Scotty has been one of the major voices in the team room and you can see in his emotions and his attitude with regard to losing every single year,” Day said of Scott’s frustration of not being part of a winning Internationals team.

“It’s disappointing for me to sit here and know that I can do better, and I should be doing better.

“I’m going to try and change my attitude and be a lot better for the Presidents Cups that I can play in.”

While captain Ernie Els works on building a more cohesive Internationals unit in New Orleans this week, the influence of Royal Melbourne itself is seen as a trump card for the home side.

The only Internationals victory came at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and Day believes the leadership of Els and Scott will be crucial in taking advantage of any local knowledge.

“That golf course itself is very difficult, especially with regards to what kind of weather we get there,” said Day, with many American players expected to come into Melbourne from Tiger Woods’ tournament in the Bahamas in the early hours of Monday morning.

“How the ball reacts on the fairway and the greens is totally different than what we get over here in the States.

“Obviously local knowledge is key, but fingers crossed we have a lot of fast learners and some good veteran players on the team such as Adam Scott and Ernie as a captain to be able to let these guys know.

“I know for a fact that Adam and Ernie have played that course in tournament conditions multiple times beforehand, so it’s good to be able to have leadership like that to be able to relay the message across to the younger guys.”

Jason Day’s disappointment at not winning THE PLAYERS has been tempered by the knowledge that his game is in good shape less than a month out from The Masters.

The 2016 victor of the PGA TOUR’s flagship event shot a final round of even par 72 to finish four shots behind Sunday playing partner and ultimate champion Rory McIlroy, the Queenslander left to rue four missed opportunities on the par-5s in his final round.

Little more than a week ago Day walked off the course at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after just six holes with a back injury that required injections in order to tee it up at TPC Sawgrass.

After a second round of 6-under 66 Day spoke about being pain-free following the cortisone injections last weekend but it was some self-inflicted wounds that caused him some discomfort early in his round on Sunday.

A chip shot failed to progress past the greenside rough as he opened with a bogey, getting that shot back immediately with a sand-save from 14 feet at the par-5 second.

Further dropped shots at 4 and 9 made his back-9 assignment even more challenging, back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 not enough to spark a late charge as he finished tied for eighth.

“It was nice to be able to come back and birdie the second hole, but to be honest I played the par-5s poorly,” Day said post-round.

“I shot even par and they’re all gettable, and if I would have birdied all four I would have been tied with Rory. Unfortunately I just wasn’t good enough today and he was.

“I feel motivated going into next week, knowing that my game is in a half decent spot.”

McIlroy defied the doubters to add THE PLAYERS to his glittering resume, Day wrestling with the mixed emotions of seeing the tournament slip from his own fingers and into the arms of a worthy champion.

“It’s definitely disappointing sometimes to see or get a front-row seat on a guy winning. It’s more disappointing for me,” Day conceded, backing up this week to play the Valspar Championship at the Innisbrook Resort in Florida.

“Obviously I’m very happy for Rory. He’s played some tremendous golf over the last few months and he’s very deserving of it.”

“So it was nice to see that and I’m positive with how things are going.”

As Day moved up to 27th in the FedEx Cup standings Scott also advanced five places after finishing one shot behind his fellow Queenslander in a tie for 12th.

Beginning the final round five shots behind the leaders, Scott made a positive start with birdies at the 2^nd and 4^th holes but shots in the water at 11 and 16 led to bogeys that saw him post a final round of 2-under 70, a rare birdie at 18 a sweet way to finish.

Cameron Smith was the only other Australian to complete the four rounds, a Sunday 71 resulting in a tie for 56th.

THE PLAYERS

TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Cse), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

T8           Jason Day            70-66-68-72—276            $US350,000

T12        Adam Scott         70-69-68-70—277            $253,125

T56        Cameron Smith  72-70-73-71—286            $27,250

MC         Marc Leishman  71-73—144

MC         Aaron Baddeley 75-73—148

Consultation with Tiger Woods about cortisone injections for his troublesome back injury has convinced Jason Day that he can not only complete 72 holes at THE PLAYERS this week but repeat his victory from 2016.

Day withdrew early in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week citing a back injury and then, for the first time in his career, had four injections around his spine in order to alleviate some of the pain he was in.

In addition to consulting with his team, Day called on Woods to try and gauge what kind of effect such injections would have on his ability to play.

“I talked to him about, obviously, what it was like getting injections,” Day revealed leading up to his opening round alongside reigning Open champion Francesco Molinari and American Tony Finau.

“My big concern was if I got them, how long would it last, and it just depends on the person.

“For him it lasted three days, so going into it you’re like, well, OK, hopefully mine lasts a little bit longer.

“But I have to be more disciplined with regards to that. Some guys that are younger or don’t have back issues or have no issues at all, I’ve got to be a lot more disciplined in that regard with my physio and my training to stay on top of it. That’s just my genetic makeup with regards to my back.

“We’re all playing with a certain amount of aches and pains, but my long-term confidence with regards to my back, I’m not even thinking about it right now.

“I feel really cautiously optimistic about how things are progressing and the way that I feel.

“When pain starts shooting down my legs, that’s obviously a no-go, and then my back seizes up and I can’t really walk, that’s when I start getting it.

“It’s not great for you mentally to come back from an injury, so your confidence is kind of like hit a little bit, but overall I feel good about it.”

Since his win in 2016 Day has finished tied for 60th in 2017 and tied for fifth in 2018 but has never played the iconic Pete Dye layout in tournament mode in March.

Two weeks ago he played two rounds to familiarise himself prior to arriving for tournament week and knows he is facing a different golf course to the one he triumphed at three years ago.

“It’s obviously a lot different to what we’re used to seeing in May,” Day said on Tuesday.

“Obviously a lot of dry, firm fairways, dry greens, quick greens so I am excited to see how the course actually plays. I know it’s going to present very well on TV.

“Typically we have got a southeasterly wind here and that’s easier coming down 17 and 18.

“I played it with a northeasterly, north-northeasterly today, and I hit 9-iron into 17, and then I hit driver, 5-iron into 18.

“With the southeasterly (in 2016) I remember hitting 2-iron, 54-degree wedge into it.

“You have to drive it really well because when I won here, I just hit 2-iron everywhere because it was firm. But now you’re hitting a lot more drivers and 3-woods off tees.

“It’s going to play longer, but it’s going to be easier around the greens with regards to chipping and bunker work and all that stuff.

“Amazing difference of a couple of months.”

When he won THE PLAYERS IN 2016 Day topped the driving distance for the week with an average of 311.6 yards.

It is the longest average driving distance of any winner at TPC Sawgrass but is by no means a long-bomber’s paradise.

Dustin Johnson has never once finished inside the top-10 at THE PLAYERS which to Day indicates that any player in the 144-man field is capable of hoisting the trophy on Sunday.

“A lot of players have won here and it’s been a wide array of players with regards to what they’re type of play is,” said Day.

“Short, long, crooked, straight, good short game, not a good short game.

“To be honest, I have no clue why. I finished sixth one year, and then I kind of half worked out a little bit and then I’ve won and then I’ve played semi-decent from there.

“But I’ve mixed that in with some missed cuts, as well.

“I don’t have an answer. I would like to hear an answer, if you’ve got one, but I don’t think anyone knows, really, to be honest.”

Day and Adam Scott are the two Aussies in the field to have tasted success at TPC Sawgrass, joining Greg Norman and Steve Elkington as former champions from Australia.

There are a total of five Australians in the field this week with Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Aaron Baddeley joining Day and Scott with Kiwi Danny Lee the sole representative from New Zealand.

He is the undisputed top dog at Torrey Pines.

With eight wins in 17 appearances at the site where he also won the 1991 Junior World crown, Tiger Woods expected to win every time he contested the Farmers Insurance Open.

To be fair, for a long time Woods expected to win wherever he teed it up and it is that winning mentality that Aussie Jason Day will embrace ahead of his PGA TOUR title defence this week.

The first of two wins on the PGA TOUR last year, Day arrives at Torrey Pines on the back of a 13th-place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and ranked No.12 in the world, one spot ahead of his boyhood idol, Tiger Woods.

With just two top-10 finishes since THE PLAYERS Championship last May, Day knows there are areas of his game that need improvement but is determined to become the first player since Woods in 2007-2008 to go back-to-back.

“I’ve had some good success here, so that’s the plan,” Day said of winning at Torrey Pines for a third time as a professional, also claiming the Callaway Junior World title in 2004 and 2015 Farmers Insurance Open.

“The old Tiger that I knew, he would come into an event and say that he’s here to win.

“Obviously over the last few years we got a little bit different Tiger just because he was coming back from an injury. Now he’s a year in and it will be interesting to see where his mentality is in regards to winning tournaments.

“I haven’t really had a lot of success lately. The last time I won was Wells Fargo last year and from there I played some good golf, but I haven’t really been much in contention at all.

“I feel like I’ve just got to be patient. I feel like things are starting to progress nicely for me and hopefully it happens this week.

“Obviously I’ve had some success here and I’m excited about that and the memories that come along with that, but I’m also excited to see where my game stands up not only against the best players in the world but where I need to improve with my game going forward into the season.”

Like Woods, Day will debut the new TaylorMade P760 irons this week in an effort to arrest a worrying slide in his iron play in recent seasons.

Day ranked 142nd on tour for Strokes Gained: Approach the Green in 2018 and with coach Col Swatton he has been working tirelessly to improve his greens-in-regulation percentage of 65.28.

“Last year I struggled with the left shot, especially with the miss. It would constantly go left and I struggled with that a lot,” Day said.

“I think with the 760s, we moved the CG (centre of gravity) a little bit further to the toe with some tungsten weight in the toe. Granted, doing that hopefully will straighten that left shot out a little bit.

“I’ve just got to keep working on it. It’s imperative for me to be able to hit more greens.

“I think if I can drive it straighter, but hit 70 per cent of greens and rank No.1 in putting, then I’ll probably have another year like in 2015.

“That’s the goal.”

Prior to Day’s win 12 months ago – his 11th on the PGA TOUR – the headlines were dominated by the return of a healthy Tiger Woods.

Given the way he finished 2018 and the excitement generated by his win at the TOUR Championship, Day expects to once again be somewhat drowned out by the Woods whirlwind this week.

“I think if I was No. 1 in the world it would add a lot more stress coming back to defend,” said Day.

“There are other stories going around. Tiger’s back playing, so there are other things that are kind of deflecting a lot of the attention away from myself about defending.

“That takes probably a lot of pressure off my shoulders to know the fact that I can kind of walk around and get my work in and get out of here and not have to really stress about it too much.

“But I am obviously always nervous going to tournaments and that’s a good thing.

"The stress here is a lot more heightened just because of defending, and of course the golf course.

"But I’m looking forward to a good week.

“I’ve never been able to defend one, so hopefully, fingers crossed, I get off to a good start.”

Day will play alongside 2017 and 2016 champions Jon Rahm and Brandt Snedeker for the opening two rounds from 4.30am AEDT on Friday morning and is one of eight Australians in the field.

Adam Scott will play the first two rounds with Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler starting with the tougher South Course, Cameron Davis and Rod Pampling also begin their tournament on the South Course.

Like Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and John Senden will first play the North Course followed by the South Course in the second round.

World Number 8 Jason Day is a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR already this year and enters the U.S. Open as one of the dangers to take out the second Major of the year.

The season so far is a throwback to the stellar form Day had in 2015 and 2016 when he captured the World Number 1 ranking and his first Major, the PGA Championship.

Now with two wins under his belt in 2018, the Farmers Insurance Open and Wells Fargo Championship, the Queenslander is back in a winning mindset.

“It’s more of a mindset, I think, more so than anything else. I think if I want to be the best player in the world, I’ll be the best player in the world,” said Day ahead of the opening round this Thursday.

“And that’s more the mindset that I have to take… If I want to put my mind to something, I know that there’s pretty much nothing people can do about it. Because if I put my mind to it, it’s going to happen.”

With seven spots to climb to re-gain the mantle of the best golfer in the world, Day admits he has a monumental task ahead of him, particularly to de-throne the current World Number 1 Dustin Johnson, who just last week took the spot back from Justin Thomas with a win in the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

“I know how hard it is to climb that mountain, how hard it is to do the things that I did do, and how much work that you had to actually put into your game to get to that point. And sometimes it can be motivating, and sometimes it can be very difficult to look at, knowing that you’ve got so far to go.

“I feel like it’s always easier chasing to get to Number 1 than it is to get there and stay there. Right now, I’m chasing a guy that’s playing phenomenal golf. Dustin just won last week, and he got back to the top of the world rankings again.

“He’s very dominant in the way he plays with regards to how far he hits it and all that stuff. I feel like, when things are going my way and I’m doing the right things, I feel like my game is just like that as well.

“So I’ve just got to keep working. I’ve won twice already this year, and I think if I can keep pushing, keep grinding, I’ve got the second half of the season to go. I’ve got three Majors left. If I can kind of get a Major in the next three and win a couple more, I think that would be a good, solid year and get things kicked in the right direction.”

With a traditionally difficult course set-up at the U.S. Open, the Major can present challenges mentally as well as on the course; Day however is welcoming the task saying he’s prepared to be tested in his head and inside the ropes.

“I like the stressful part of trying to win a tournament, and I like the stressful part about just being in amongst, playing a tough tournament in front of a lot of people and trying to win a Major,” added Day.

“So I think if you can just keep grinding, that’s my biggest thing. I’m not a mud runner, but like to a certain degree, I enjoy tough conditions because I feel like I thrive better under those conditions than an easier course where everyone can come in and play.”

Day is one of 11 Australasians in the field this week, one of the biggest showings of golfers from this part of the world in recent times.

At the 2017 Emirates Australian Open, Day played the final two rounds with up and coming golfer Lucas Herbert who he again caught up with at Shinnecock.

“I played last year with him (Herbert) at the Australian Open, and he said ‘you had a great year. I said yeah, kind of kicked it on since we last played the Australian Open.’ He seems like he’s playing some pretty good golf, I know he’s trying to get his European Tour card right now, but there’s a lot of young Aussie players coming out right now.”

Day says the strong showing of Australian and New Zealander golfers is great for the game at a junior level, he is also the ambassador for the MyGolf program in Australia.

“I know there’s a big mix of us, from David Bransdon, who is kind of an older guy, to Lucas, who is a younger guy as well. But we’ve got a good group of guys over here right now, It’s actually good to see because, obviously, with the population that we have, there’s only 23 million Aussies, and a lot of them don’t really play golf, but it’s good to see that per capita we have a good chunk in the U.S. Open this year,” added Day

“So the only thing that we can do is represent Australia as good as we can, try and win as many tournaments so that just kind of feeds more kids into junior golf, and hopefully that kind of freshens up, I guess, the competition as they grow older.”

Day tees off at 9:30pm Thursday night AEST with Bubba Watson and defending champion Brooks Koepka for the opening round of the U.S. Open.

The U.S. Open will be broadcast live on FOX SPORTS Australia from 11:30pm AEST. Check local guides for broadcast times.

Jason Day has won his 12^th career title on the PGA TOUR and 2^nd for the 2017/2018 season, taking out the Wells Fargo Championship by two shots from Americans Aaron Wise and Nick Watney.

MyGolf Ambassador Day posted rounds of 69, 67, 67 and 69 with a phenomenal short game display and while a run of errant tee shots on the back-9 wiped out a three-stroke lead, the former World Number 1 was able to steady the ship with birdies on 16 and 17 and wrap up the championship.

He finished 12-under the card with Wise and Watney tied for second at 10-under.

The Queenslander mentioned the gritty win was one of the best of his career given his wayward drives on the back-9 and how well he fought back.

“I had no idea where the ball was going today especially off the tee, I missed a lot of fairways and missed a lot of greens,” said Day.

“My short game stood the test which was nice; this was probably one of the best wins I’ve ever had just because of how hard everything was today.”

The win goes a long way to Day vanquishing demons after a capitulation on the 18^th in round three of the 2017 PGA Championship at the same venue dropped him out of contention in the Major.

Dubbed the ‘Green Mile’, the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th present a notoriously difficult challenge for professionals, however, Day was able to successfully navigate the final stretch going birdie on the 16^th, a near ace on the 17^th resulting in a birdie and closing with par on the final hole.

“I hit a lot of great solid putts coming home but being able to birdie 16 and 17 and give myself that two-shot buffer going down the last hole was huge.”

Day’s attention now turns to next week and THE PLAYERS, a title he won previously in 2016.

“Obviously THE PLAYERS is such a huge event, it feels like a Major to me and I’m sure it feels like a Major to most guys,” added Day.

“It’s really nice to be able to play pretty solid for the most part of the week. My short game is really nice, it’s rounding out nicely for next week but I’ve still obviously got a lot of work to do over the next few days.

“I’m going to enjoy tonight and enjoy this win but once tomorrow starts I’ve got to focus back on THE PLAYERS and try to win that one.”

With the win, Day is likely to move inside the World Top-10 a significant step closer to reclaiming the mantle of World Number 1, something he’s made no secret of wanting to return to.

“Ever since I was a kid I’ve always held Number 1 above Major championships for some reason I was always thinking that’s the best thing ever.

“When you’re walking around and there are so many golfers in this world and you know that there’s no one better than you, that’s a pretty awesome feeling.

“I know what it felt like to be Number 1 and what I had to do to get there and this is a good kick in the right direction having two wins early-ish in the season.”

Following the Wells Fargo win and the Farmers Insurance Open title earlier this year, Day’s attention now turns to capturing one of three remaining Majors in 2018.

“My next step is to try and win a Major this year, it’d be nice to capitalise on the good play and if I can do that hopefully the U.S. Open comes around nicely for me.”

The win has catapulted Day up the FedEx Cup rankings to 2^nd place behind Justin Thomas.

Greg Chalmers finished the next best placed Australian at T21, Adam Scott was listed as MDF while Rod Pampling, Danny Lee, Ryan Ruffels, Aaron Baddeley and Geoff Ogilvy all missed the cut.

Queenslander Jason Day made his debut at Augusta in 2011 and nearly became the first Masters rookie to win a Green Jacket since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

While it won’t be the sole motivator for the World Number 11 to win the first Major of the year, it will certainly light a fire to be in contention come Monday morning Australian time.

The close call in 2011 came at an ideal time for a young Day who revealed he was close to giving the game away prior to becoming World Number 1 years later.

“I was almost close to quitting the game in 2011 when I was a rookie coming and playing this event for the first time,” said Day.

“I met my agent, Bud, and a sports psychologist, and we ended up coming up with a plan of just going out there and having fun.  I ended up finishing second and had a good chance of winning the tournament, and Charl Schwartzel came home in a flurry and birdied the last four holes.

“And then in 2013 I was very close again.  Had the lead with I think three holes left and didn’t quite get it done, but Adam Scott ended up finishing and being the first Australian to win the Masters.

“So with all that said, this is a tournament that I’m always focused to try and win every single year, and I’m striving towards hopefully one day slipping that Green Jacket on and being able to call myself a Masters champion.”

Day is hoping the fun times can continue this week at Augusta and has again employed the services of childhood friend and former ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Professional Rika Batibasaga to carry his sticks.

While the loss of knowledge from long time caddy now full-time coach PGA Professional Colin Swatton will no doubt be missed, the pair will still benefit from Swatton’s yardage books and knowledge while he watches from outside of the ropes this week. Day says Rika will keep him relaxed on golf’s biggest stage.

“This week we won’t go over the numbers because I know how thorough Colin is with being here, but having Rika on the bag this week, I think hopefully that will make things a little bit more light out there for me and a little bit more fun,” said Day.

“Over the last few years it’s been more of a grind trying to get that win because a lot of people have come up to me and said:  This is your year, this is your year, you’re going to win one.

“And that can add a little bit more pressure.  So hopefully I have my good close buddy out there with me and we can make things a little less stressful and go out there and have fun.”

While his coach won’t be on the bag this year, the onus of his performance will rest more on his own shoulders.

He said he’ll need to take ownership of the week and the removal of an outside opinion could be a bonus come round one.

“I think that to a certain degree you take ownership of your actual golf game, going back with Col, he was great for the 10 years that we had, and he is still my coach,” added Day.

“But to a certain degree I think when you have your coach on the bag, you kind of… not worry but you kind of think, okay, well, he’s going to say something about this shot, so I better not play that shot, you know.

“And it takes a little bit of free will to your game to let things happen. I think that’s what Rika will bring to this week, is a lot of fun and enjoyment.  We’re best buds, so we’ll go out there and enjoy the time.  I think he’s going to be nervous walking down the first hole, but he should be fine.”

Jason Day is joined in the field by three fellow Australians; 2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott, 2017 Greg Norman Medallist Marc Leishman and 2017 Australian PGA Champion Cameron Smith.

The Masters will be broadcast free to air on the Nine Network and ad free on FOX SPORTS Australia dedicated Masters channel.

Check local guides for times.