Win number 12 didn’t come easy for Jason Day in Charlotte on Sunday.
And he’s glad it didn’t.
“I had no idea where the ball was going today. My short game just stood the test, which is nice. This is probably one of the best wins I’ve ever had just because of how hard it was today.”
So said Day, moments after a big hug from son Dash, wife Ellie and daughter Lucy.
Day was being pursued hotly by playing partner Nick Watney and 21-year-old rookie Aaron Wise. Twice Day gave them hope, he made back-to-back bogeys on his front nine (five and six) then again on the back (13 and 14) and each time he dug deep and made birdie after his mistakes.
What Day did in the end was turn the dreaded Green Mile into The Red Mile.
With his lead down to one, he smashed a drive at the 16th a whopping 379 yards then flipped a wedge to nine feet. Of course he made it then headed to the 17th, at 230 yards, it was playing as the toughest hole at Quail Hollow Sunday afternoon. All it was for Day was seven-iron and he launched a towering effort that landed in perfect line with the hole, 40 feet short, took three small hops, then a fourth before it collided with the flagstick, squarely, and stopped just a couple of feet away for an easy two.
With a two-shot lead under his belt, it made he dreadful 18th not so dreadful. A driving iron to the middle, a second that was a bit off line left him 80 feet to the hole. Didn’t matter, he chipped to seven feet and the short game he leaned on heavily, got him that closing par for 69, 12-under, winner by two.
“You play mental games with yourself,” Day said of his challenging final round. “I just told myself ‘keep pushing, keep pushing, just keep going forward, just give yourself opportunities.'”
That’s exactly what he did in the end when he knocked The Green Mile off its feet with a birdie-birdie-par finish to close the deal.
He’ll jump back into the top 10 this week when the new rankings come out. He had seen himself fall to No. 14, despite his early season win at Torrey Pines, another big-boy course like this one at Quail Hollow.
He’s beginning to look a lot like the guy who won five times in 2015 then another three times including the 2016 Players Championship, a win that took him to No. 1 in the world.
But in 2017, life got in the way. His mother was battling cancer and wife Ellie suffered a miscarriage. Life as No. 1 had also taken its toll.
“I got burned out being No. 1,” Day admitted. “It can be demanding at times. You’ve got to give time to people and sometimes you don’t get a lot of time to yourself. Last year was a kick in the butt not playing great and seeing a lot of other guys succeed.”
It is Day succeeding this year but he conceded he’s got his eye on another Players Championship this week.
“I need a lot of work if I want to win,” he said, thinking about his Sunday struggles, mostly with his ball-striking.
“But,” he added, “I’m confident in my abilities.”
It certainly looks like the winning Jason Day is back. Yeah, THAT Jason Day.
It was the guy from Queensland who won in the Queen City on Sunday.
Now it’s on to The Players with three more majors after that.
“These are exciting times for us,” Day said of himself and wife Ellie, who is expecting the couple’s third child in the fall.
Well said, Jason Day.
Well said.
6 Comments
baxter cepeda
Im not saying it happened but with the victorious Day expecting his Third cannot help but point out that if good buddies TW and Stricks had one together it would be Day.
Tom Edrington
Laughable! Day is a product of a tough upbringing and a lot of time, effort, caring and mentoring from Colin Swafford — simple as that.
baxter cepeda
Nice. You give Day a pass on his mistakes as a younger fella but Too bad Tiger and Reed do not get the same understanding.
My point with Day is he has the long game of Tiger and the short game of steve stricker. While everyone wants to swing like Tiger Ive been wondering for years why more people dont pitch like Strick.
Day Does it. And it works.
Tom Edrington
Baxter: Please, please show me where I am even mentioning mistakes by Jason Day as a youngster?? There you go again with your words, trying to claim they are mine……Besides, Tiger made his mistakes as an ADULT……Check and you’ll see Day is LONGER than Tiger and Stricker’s short game was not as good as Watson’s otherwise Stricker would have won a major……..not a lot of people want to swing like Tiger, it was Lee Trevino who predicted Tiger would blow out a knee with that swing and he did……remember don’t try and make your thoughts and words MINE…..I mentioned a troubled childhood for Day and it is documented, his mom got him into a private academy and it was Swafford who turned his life around long before Day was even a teenager…..Reed was boorish as a college player……so you’re talking about two individuals one more than 10 years advanced over Day’s troubled period one who was two decades older than Day…..
baxter cepeda
No one wants to swing like tiger? You seen JTs left knee at impact? Just like Tiger 2k. I don’t know where watson entered the fray but just because steve stricker never won a major does not mean his short game is not something to copy for top players. Even Tiger has gotten advice from Stricker with putting and short stuff.
But again you will probably try to diminish how many top players emulate TW.
Everyone who has read your stuff knows what I mean about Reed, Day and Tiger, even if you think I’m putting words in your mouth. You actually misquoted me saying i said you “ hate”reed. I never said you actually feel that way for Reed and all 3 people who read you know that except you. I basically said your words were ‘hatin’ words, aka troll words in the social media landscape. And i explained why you do it: clicks. I obviously know you do not hate Reed. You just love clicks. But it seems more possitive recaps of golf championships will garner you more clicks than these shock value headlines you use, such as were stuck with reed.
Also Sometimes it seems your replies to readers posts are off topic. And writing in all caps makes you sounds unprofessional; just some advice from a guy with a masters degree in joirnalism.
Everyone makes mistakes and everyone whom feels remorse, apologizes, and improves themselves for their mistakes deserves forgiveness and a second chance. Whether its intended or not it seems you can be unfairly harsh with certain golfers at times, and you get very defensive about the feedback, which again comes out unprofessional and is probably why we dont see more people engaging with you Tom.
Aloha.
Tom Edrington
Baxter, congrats on your Masters in journalism, please send me some of your articles when you get a chance. What got me was you claimed I was giving Day a pass for troubles as a very young child, pre-teen where I don’t give much of a pass to Reed or Tiger. That is because, as I repeat, Day wasn’t even a teenager, Reed was in his 20s and Tiger was a full-blown adult….Hope you can understand the difference. I welcome any and all feedback/criticisms. I spent a decade at a newspaper where there was no social media except for folks picking up the phone and cussing us out for one reason or another….it was most entertaining for all of us on the Tampa Tribune staff back in those days….if I write in all caps, it is for emphasis…..you backtracked with your “hatin'” phrase, blaming that on social media, for every player you name who you think emulates Tiger’s swing, I’ll give you five that do not……besides, it wasn’t Tiger’s ball striking that won most of his majors, it was his clutch putting and short game……I used to play a game with friends and tell them: “Let me take five putts away from Tiger Woods and he’ll only have nine majors.”….I’ve been at this a very, very long time and most younger people these days never value that….it’s called point of reference. I was thankful to cover Nicklaus in his prime. Not many could emulate his swing because it was his alone. These days, most swings basically look the same, there are no more home-made swings except for Bubba and maybe that’s one reason why people love to watch him shape shots. Keep your observations and comments coming. At the end of the day, I totally enjoy them.