(REUTERS) - Former world No. 1 golfer Jason Day almost aced the 17th hole on the way to a two-stroke victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina on Sunday (May 6).
After squandering a three-shot lead on the back nine, Day (69) made amends to clinch his 12th PGA Tour victory in style at Quail Hollow in Charlotte ahead of Americans Nick Watney (69) and Aaron Wise (68) who tied for second place on 10-under 274.
The Australian birdied the 16th and then took aim at the par-three 17th hole with a seven-iron from 230 yards.
His ball landed some 40 feet short of the pin, took a huge first bounce and finally clattered against the bottom of the flagstick on the fifth bounce.
Day was unlucky not to make a hole-in-one, but the stick also saved his ball from rolling off the back of the green.
The ensuing three-feet birdie restored his two-shot lead and he parred the last to finish at 12-under 272.
Former world No. 1 Tiger Woods, meanwhile had his first birdie-less round since 2014 to finish equal 55th - his second-worst result of the year.
He closed with a three-over 74 to finish at two-over 286 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, 14 strokes behind winner Jason Day.
It was only the 11th time in more than 1,000 rounds as a professional on the PGA Tour that Woods failed to record a birdie or eagle.
He again lamented poor putting but also failed to hit his approach shots close enough to the hole. He had only one birdie chance from inside 10 feet - a five-footer that he missed at the par-five 10th.
"I hit the ball halfway decent today... so I wasn't disappointed with that," the 14-time Major champion told reporters. "Again, just did not putt well and didn't make a birdie today. I got shut out. It was just a bad week."
In his seventh start of the year, the 42-year-old is well into a full-throttled comeback after last April's successful back surgery. He has made the cut in all but one start, and seemed to be nearing his old form when he contended for victory in consecutive events in Florida in March.
Woods was rated among the favourites at the US Masters in April, but finished equal 32nd and blamed poor iron play.
