Adam Scott showed early signs of a final flurry but it was American Xander Schauffele who was crowned Champion Golfer of the Year at The Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Scott trailed 54-hole leader Billy Horschel by four strokes entering the final round on the back of a round of 5-under 66 on Saturday.

With early birdies at one and three, Scott threatened to make a charge for the Claret Jug that he craves so deeply but bogey at the par-3 fifth quelled much of his forward momentum.

Scott ultimately closed with an even-par round of 71 to finish tied for 10th, fellow Australian Jason Day closing with a round of 3-under 68 to climb into a share of 13th just one shot back of Scott.

Runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open, Scott is buoyed by a fortnight in Scotland that he hopes will propel him into the Presidents Cup team and a deep run in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

“After the 10th it was kind of over,” was Scott’s summation. “In the end I was too far back.

“Yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope but it would have had to be a super-hot front nine.

“It was good solid golf. I made a bad swing on 10 and paid the price, made a mess of that.

“It’s hard to really sum up. I played fairly well this week. Didn’t do well in the toughest conditions.

“That’s how it goes.

“There’s still the Presidents Cup to look forward to, hopefully I’m in a good spot to play my way on to that team now.

“That’s kind of the goal through the FedEx Cup upcoming.”

The next assignment for Day is a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games.

Lamenting not handling the brutal conditions thrown at him better during Saturday’s third round where he fell from a tie for seventh to outside the top 30, Day will head home for a week before joining Min Woo Lee at Le Golf National.

“Troon is a serious test of golf,” said Day.

“I always love coming and playing The Open Championship. It’s just a thrill.

“I just didn’t putt as well as I’d hoped to yesterday and didn’t score well. I played good but

didn’t score well.

“To be honest, I feel like the game is kind of moving in the right direction.

“There’s a lot of good positive things moving out of this week going into Paris.”

The US PGA champion at Valhalla in May, Schauffele was flawless in a final round of 6-under 65.

Starting Sunday one back of Horschel, Schauffele began patiently, picking off five straight pars as others around him found early birdies.

Back-to-back birdies at six and seven saw him enter the fray but it was his birdie on 11 – the only player in the final round to do so at the hole named ‘The Railway’ – sparked his winning run.

He separated himself from the field with further birdies at 13, 14 and 16, burning the left edge of with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win by two from Justin Rose (67) and Horschel (68).