China's Dou stands tall after near-miss

China's Marty Dou Zecheng took plenty of positives from his performance after a close brush with glory at the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Dou, who was in a three-way tie for the overnight lead, charged into a two-stroke advantage with four birdies over the opening seven holes of the $9.5 million tournament, but his hopes of becoming the first Chinese mainland winner on the PGA Tour were soon derailed by a misjudged approach shot.

With his ball lying in the rough on the par-4 8th hole, Dou caught a flyer, sending his ball out of bounds at the back of the green to pencil down a costly double bogey.

The young Chinese bravely fought back with a birdie at the next hole, but Australian Jason Day charged home with a stunning 62 to secure his 13th PGA Tour victory.

Dou's consolation was a tied-fifth finish — his first top-10 on the elite circuit.

"Big mistake on No 8 when the ball was on the edge of the rough," Dou conceded.

"The lie looked OK but I caught a flyer and ended in OB. It's a pity. On this course, everyone is going low, like what Jason did. That hole cost me two strokes. I was still generally good after that hole but I just couldn't get more birdies compared to the front nine," added Dou, who tied Scottie Scheffler (65) and Tyrell Hatton for fifth position on 20-under 264, three behind the winner.

Day won his first PGA Tour event in five years on Sunday, closing with a 9-under 62 for a one-shot victory over Austin Eckroat of the US and Kim Si-woo of South Korea

Playing on Mother's Day a little more than a year after losing his mom to cancer, Day finished 23-under while ending his victory drought the week before the PGA Championship.

Despite carrying the pressure of holding the 54-hole lead for the first time on the PGA Tour, Dou looked poised playing in the final group. He made birdies from inside of nine feet on holes 1, 4, 5 and 7 to take charge at TPC Craig Ranch, which is his home course, before finding trouble on No 8. He registered two more birdies against a bogey on his inward nine.

"I had a solid start, and didn't have too many thoughts. I could feel I was in good form. A tied-fifth finish will give me great confidence for the remainder of the season. I had improvements on my ball-striking… my driving and putting helped give me good scores. I hope to keep playing like this," said Dou, who holds three wins on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour.

"I had no issues focusing or with my mental approach. Hole No 8 had nothing to do with the swing or my mental thoughts, it was just an error in judgment.

"It could have happened to anyone. It just so happened to be me when I was leading. It's a pity but it's also acceptable."

The top-five finish pushed Dou from 169th to 119th on the latest FedExCup points list where the top 125 players will earn exemptions into full-field PGA Tour events in 2024. The top 50 after the FedExCup Playoffs will be fully exempt for the newly created Designated events next year.

"I will try to get into the top 50 or top 70, so I can be a bit more relaxed during the fall season," he said.

Chinese Taipei's CT Pan, meanwhile, fired a career-best 9-under 62 to finish solo fourth, just weeks after making a welcome return from a long injury layoff. The one-time PGA Tour winner produced a near flawless final round, sinking two stunning eagles, six birdies and a lone bogey to finish two strokes behind Day.

Pan, 31, was delighted to regain his best form as he earned $465,500 and 135 FedExCup points which saw him move up to 142nd position.

"You know, just before the round, I was trying to give myself a lot of birdies putts. I know the greens are soft because we had quite a bit of rain overnight, and we played the ball up, as well," said Pan.

"On the back nine, pretty crazy ....I had two eagles. I don't think I've ever done that before, and shot 62, my lowest round on the PGA Tour. Just really cool to do it on Sunday and on the PGA Tour."