Australia’s No.1 male golfer, Jason Day, continued his career resurgence with a top-10 finish as American Chris Kirk claimed the PGA TOUR season-opening The Sentry at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.

On a day in which Korean Sungjae Im bettered the PGA TOUR record for most birdies in a 72-hole tournament – supplanting Australia’s own Paul Gow’s shared record of 32 set at the 2001 BC Open – Kirk’s closing 65 saw him finish at 29-under par, one clear of Sahith Theegala (63) with Jordan Spieth (65) outright third.

Day threatened to make a Sunday charge up the leaderboard with three straight birdies from the fifth hole to draw within one of the lead but a wayward tee shot at the par-3 eighth led to a costly double-bogey.

The 36-year-old made his 24th birdie of the week at the par-4 12th and then made three further birdies on the trot to play his way into a tie for 10th, the 92nd of his career on the PGA TOUR.

It was a week of mixed scores for the only other Aussie in the field, Cam Davis closing with a bogey-free round of 8-under 65 to climb four spots into a tie for 52nd.

Results

PGA TOUR The Sentry Kapalua Resort (Plantation Course), Kapalua, Hawaii 1 Chris Kirk 67-65-66-65—263 $US3.6m T10 Jason Day 65-69-67-67—268 $530,000 T52 Cam Davis 75-68-73-65—281 $54,500