Disappointing finish costly for Jason Day in Paris
Jason Day – in action this week – image PGA Tour / IGF
At one stage during round three of the Olympic Golf’s men’s competition, Australia’s Jason Day had moved into second position and just two shots off the then leader Tommy Fleetwood but a bogey at the par 5 14th and another at the 17th will have him heading into tomorrow’s final round in 10th place and five shots behind the joint 54 hole leaders, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele.
Day began the day six shots from the lead of Rahm, Schauffele Fleetwood but with six birdies in his opening twelve holes, he had closed in on the lead before his disappointing finish.
Given the quality of players ahead of him on the leaderboard, Day’s chances of claiming the Gold Medal would appear to be slim. Still, if he is to put together a strong finishing round, the chance of a medal of some colour is still possible.
“It’s a little frustrating,” said Day. “I can’t seem to get the ball in the fairway with the driver as much as I’d like to. I’ve been driving the ball pretty well up until the second part of the season, and it’s just been a little off.
“Funny enough, my iron play has been shocking this year and my iron play has been pretty good this week and I’ve matched that with some good putting.
“To be honest, I just need to play the closing holes a lot better than I have. You play those a little bit better and you’re right in the mix but still one more day to go.
When asked if playing the Olympics has taken on a greater meaning than he first imagined Day would say;
“Yes, by far, a lot more. Not only playing for your country and your teammates. The crowd has made it fantastic to be a part of it. Definitely feel honoured to be able to come here and represent my country. It’s been a fun week. The dinners, team dinners have been tremendous and we had a lot of fun.
“I was saying earlier that typically we are always constantly trying to win tournaments on the PGA TOUR. We look at the Money List and we look at what money we’d make. You don’t earn anything this week. You’re earning a medal, and I think that brings out something deep from whether it’s when you’re a junior golfer or amateur golfer that it means something more than just some money at the end of the day for us.
“It’s definitely opened my eyes to representing something bigger than myself. That’s been a complete honour to do that.
“Ever since I was an 18-year-old kid, I didn’t have a lot of money; it’s always been about winning tournaments and making a lot of money. This week is not about that. It’s more. It’s about trying to prove if you’re good enough to win a medal. There’s only a small list of people that have won a medal here, especially in golf.”
Ryan Fox improved 9 places with a third round of 68 to be tied for 23rd and the next best of the Australasians, Min Woo Lee continued his comeback from a horror start to be 29th and Daniel Hillier had his best round of the week (70) to be 53rd.
With Rahm and Schauffele tied at 14 under, Fleetwood at 13 under, and the likes of McIlroy, Scheffler and Matsuyama all within striking distance tomorrow’s final round in the race for Gold will be quite a shootout.
