BAY HILL, Florida – Jason Day loves golf. It’s one of the reasons why the dominant former world No.1 remains upbeat after three years of lacklustre results and soul-searching.
It also helps that he received some moving advice from Tiger Woods recently.
On a Tuesday afternoon practice session at Bay Hill Golf Club in Florida, Day had a spring in his step while grooving a new swing he is confident will bring him back to the winner’s circle.
Day is without a PGA Tour win in almost four years after amassing 12 of them up until May 2018. He had just five top-10 finishes in the 2019/20 season and only three last season. The last time Day contended in a Major was when he held a share of the Sunday lead at the fan-less 2020 PGA Championship in San Francisco. Day admits that for a while, he lost his game, his confidence and almost his desire to play elite golf.
“It’s been a pretty wild ride since the last time we talked,” Day told Australian Golf Digest at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, referencing the fact your columnist had not been on the PGA Tour since March 2020.
A wild ride could mean any number of things, but the 2015 PGA Championship winner Day was referring to his struggle for form and slide down the world rankings.
“I was inside the top 50 in the world for so long and fell down to 120-something,” he said.
Day fell to 129th on the world rankings at the beginning of this year but has since climbed back up to 87th.
“For a while there I didn’t see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel,” added Day, one of seven Australians in the field for this week’s prestigious Arnold Palmer event.
Injuries to his back forced Day to undergo a swing rebuild with coach Chris Como, which aims to ingrain a swing that can prolong his career. He now tries to work a left-to-right ball flight and a stronger body rotation through the ball.
“I’m starting to see a lot of positive stuff in my swing; I’m seeing a fade consistently and I’m swinging the club how I want to and in a way that is preventing injuries. But it’s all a process,” Day said.
The overhaul has started to pay dividends, in the form of a tie for third at California’s Torrey Pines in January – a course where the Queenslander in 2015 and 2018.
It also prompted some encouragement from his friend and mentor, 15-time Major winner Woods.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner messaged Day after his tie for third at Torrey Pines and urged him not to give up the fight.
“I was having a chat to Tiger and after Torrey and he said, ‘Hey man, I know how hard you’ve been working and I know you’re starting to see the work paying off. Well done.’
“I then told him the goal was to get back to world No.1 and he said, ‘People don’t realise how hard it is to climb that mountain and the sacrifices you have to make. Keep going, man.’
“It was nice to be able to hear that from him because when I was playing great, Tiger and I would always text. But when you’re playing bad, you find out who’s on your friends list pretty quick. It’s cool that Tiger is still offering his support.”
It’s certainly better advice than what Woods offered when Day was trying to break into the world’s top 50 for the first time in 2010 – but not as funny.
“I remember the days of trying to crack into the top 50 and Tiger said to me at the time, ‘I have a bit of advice for you.’ I said, ‘What is it?’ And he said, ‘Play better.’ He laughed at me and walked off and I thought, Fair enough!
“He’s friendlier at this point in his career and it’s great to be able to message him regularly.”
Now, Woods – who had a single-car accident in February 2021 that left him with multiple fractures in his right leg – is also on the injury comeback trail.
Woods said at his Genesis Invitational tournament recently that he would come back and play on the PGA Tour, but he didn’t know when. The Open at St Andrews has been suggested as a potential comeback point given the Old Course is flat and an easy walk on his injured leg.
But Woods himself has remain tight-lipped.
Day says the comeback is there if Woods wants it.
“Yes, there are the leg issues but it’s more if Tiger wants it and whether he can spare that time as a father now,” Day said.
“When you’re the best in the world you have to sacrifice things and in golf that can be family time.
“Will he be back? Yeah, I have no doubt. Will he be competitive? Who knows. If he wants to be competitive he could be, but it’s more about whether the people who love him let him climb that mountain again.”
A mountain Day is all too familiar with, but one he’s happy climbing.
