[PHOTO: Getty Images]
Australian Jason Day kickstarted his 2025 PGA Tour season with a podium finish at the American Express event in California on Sunday (Monday, Australian time) and will head to his beloved Torrey Pines course for the Famers Insurance Open this week with a spring in his step.
After a disappointing T-40 on his 2025 debut at The Sentry in Hawaii two weeks ago, Day bounced back in Palm Springs, California. On the final day, he threw everything at eventual winner Sepp Straka in the California desert event but the Austrian strode to a 25-under-par total and a two-shot win over two-time major winner, Justin Thomas. Former world No.1 Day and American Justin Lower were a shot behind, finishing T-3 at 22-under.
“It would have been nice to be able to get a little bit closer [to Straka], just to try to get him thinking about it a little bit more,” Day said after his final-round 69. “He’s a great ball-striker. Obviously it’s difficult to beat someone that’s playing well.”
Day secured his first top-three finish since his runner-up at the 2023 Open Championship and his T-3 was his best result in four appearances at the American Express, eclipsing his T-18 in 2023.
“I hit it very nice,” Day said. “A lot of the stuff that I was working on has definitely carried over from Sentry [Day’s T-40 at The Sentry on Maui], and I just need to work out the putting. I feel like I gave myself a lot of opportunities out there, I’m a good putter, but I just didn’t capitalise on the opportunities. I could probably do a better job of painting a better picture before I hit the shot too, just being able to see the putt go in a little bit better. Overall very happy with the week. It’s been a good start to the year, so I’m just [looking forward to] moving [on] to Torrey Pines.”
Day’s excitement level for Torrey Pines – the famed public course near San Diego – comes from winning the Farmers Insurance Open there in 2015 and 2018. Once again, this year’s event will be played from Wednesday to Saturday (this Thursday to Sunday, Australian time) due to the NFL playoffs.
Following Day, Cameron Davis was the next best of the Australians at the American Express, finishing T-18 at 16-under.
Meanwhile, the DP World Tour held its first tournament of the 2025 calendar with the prestigious Hero Dubai Desert Classic. England’s Tyrrell Hatton, the Ryder Cup star who now plays on LIV Golf, continued his sensational form outside the 54-hole league. He fended off New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier to win the first Rolex Series event of 2025 by one stroke at the Emirates Golf Club. Hatton, who won the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in October while in the LIV offseason, grabbed his eighth European win in Dubai.
David Micheluzzi was the top Australian at Emirates Golf Club, posting the best round of the final day – a seven-under 65 on the tough Majlis course – to finish T-8 at 10-under. The Melburnian and current world No.225 walked away with a cheque for $A345,000 and a sensational start to his 2025 DP World Tour campaign.
