Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day never threatened to take Tiger Woods’ 75th US PGA win away but the Australian duo will leave Torrey Pines full of confidence.
After making the cut 10 shots behinds Woods’ halfway lead, the pair looked like they’d be just making up the numbers in Southern California.
But Baddeley fired a field-best 68 in the third round followed by a 69 to close out his week at eight under par, rocketing up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth.
Day left his run to the final round, carving out an impressive 66 to lead the field on the final day to charge into a tie for ninth.
While finishing six and seven shots behind Woods respectively, the late surge gave the pair important confidence boosts at the beginning of their seasons.
Baddeley, now 80th in the world, is aware he needs a handful of top results to push back towards the top 64, the cut-off mark for the upcoming WGC Match Play Championships.
Having won two of the next three US PGA Tour events in the past the Victorian knows this is his window.
“It was great to finish this way,” Baddeley said.
“This is a course where a good score goes a long way and that’s the type of golf I enjoy.
“I’m really trying to get back up to the top 64 for match play so weeks like this will really help me.”
Baddeley claimed the third- round fog delay, which saw only five minutes of golf played on Saturday, was a blessing in disguise.
“I didn’t play great the first few days and actually the fog delay was good for me as my caddie Anthony Knight found something small in my swing and we had a full day of practice to work it out,” Baddeley said.
“We were able to get it sorted out and it obviously worked out great.”
For Day the result was reassuring in his first week back on tour after a tough 2012.
In 2011 Day had 12 top 10s worldwide, 10 of which came on the US tour and two of which were runner-up finishes in majors.
But following injuries and the birth of his son, Day had just five worldwide top 10s last year and was a non-event in the majors.
“At the start of the week I was a bit rusty but as the week went on I definitely felt better which was nice,” Day said.
“Overall, pretty good week to start the year with a top 10 when not at my best.
“I’m very happy with how everything went and now I’m really pumped for next week.”
