Jason Day frustrated by continued back-nine woes

Jason Day bemoaned further troubles on Royal Troon's back nine after shooting a level-par 71 in round three of The Open.

World number one Day has failed to record a single birdie on holes 10 to 18 this week and came home in 39 on Saturday after initially moving up the leaderboard with four front-nine birdies.

With leaders Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson well out of reach, the Australian reflected on his struggles over the inward holes.

"I don't know how many over I've played [the back nine]; it's been terrible. That's why I'm not in the tournament right now," said Day.

"I could have been six or seven under on the front side. Then the 10th hole with the bogey kind of stopped my momentum. It's obviously very hard to get momentum back up when you're playing that back side."

Day, who is one over for the tournament with 18 holes to play, had briefly entertained thoughts of making a late challenge for the Claret Jug after turning in 32.

"I was thinking if I could get to four or five under for the day, that would definitely be closer to the lead depending on how Phil and Henrik and all those guys play," he added.

"Unfortunately four bogeys on the back side, I mean, if you're playing golf like that, you don't deserve to win.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow's round to try and improve on the back side and just get a little bit of a better taste going back home."