Jason Day – encouraging signs for the former world number one – file photo PGA of America
In a wide-ranging virtual interview with Australia’s golfing media today, Jason Day provided further evidence that the form he has shown in returning to the top 50 in the world on Monday was the start of a possible return to the elite of the game.
“It’s been a good start to the season,” said Day. “That West Coast Swing was great for me, getting out to Palm Springs early, getting the work in at the Vintage Club was great and then the last three starts have been awesome. Especially playing great in those elevated events really helped my world ranking, back inside the top-50 now, which is great. I’ve just got to keep pushing that world ranking up.
“The goal is to try and get back to No. 1 and whatever wins come in that, they’re like little steps along the way to get back to No. 1. If it happens sooner, great. If it doesn’t, I’m just going to keep working hard and hopefully it happens somewhere down the road.”
Interestingly, when Day suggested to the world in his very first year on the PGA Tour as an 18 year old that he would like to be the game’s number one, his perceived cockiness at the time, especially in an era when Tiger Woods reigned supreme, was seen by many including an American media, as the cockiness of a green-horn 18 year old from the other side of the world and ‘how dare’ he suggest such a far-fetched goal.
Well things have changed for the then young man who dreamed big at the time and backed his belief in getting to the top of the game. It was achieved nine years later in September of 2015 when just a few weeks after winning his first major title at the PGA Championship he was on the top looking back at those chasing.
Now he can articulate his desire to be the world number one again without any fear of retribution by those who might have thought it brash 17 years ago.
But he knows this will not be an easy task although he has shown previously and now that he is prepared to put in the hard yards to get there.
“You look at Rahm and McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, add Cantlay into the mix and there’s like a number of other guys like a Morikawa, and I can’t remember who else is inside the top-10 but there’s a number of guys that are very talented out here.
“The fields are so deep these days. Not saying they weren’t deep back when I was No. 1 or before me, but it just feels like these guys are really, really prepared to win and play well.
“And we’ve seen it, like over the last three weeks, three guys have regained No. 1 in the world, so there’s three guys right now that are playing really, really good golf. I’m just trying to keep my head down, stay focused and work on my game and hopefully at some point things will start to really turn and I’ll start to gain a lot more confidence.
“And not so much like can I win again, it’s more confidence in the ability of actually producing shots under the pump. I think that’s more of a thing that I’m trying to work towards because I know that I’ve won and I can win, it’s just something that I’m working towards.”
It might be hard to explain in regards like being there (world Number 1), knowing what I had to do to get there and achieving that was — I don’t know, it’s so addicting to go through that journey and that process. Me being a competitor and knowing that like I definitely have the game to get back there, it’s just a matter of like staying healthy and trying to make these correct changes.”
Day was clear in the fact that he has missed being able to play all the majors as has been the case, other than when injury or recent poor form prevented such, for the last twelve or so years
“I definitely want to get back to Augusta. Obviously missing the majors actually has been really tough for me to kind of sit back and — obviously I get to play the PGA, but missing the other majors, it’s really hard for me to sit back and kind of watch it.
“I feel like, you know, working my way back inside the top-50, I know that like it’s obviously a really great thing. I’ve enjoyed the journey thus far, but like I was saying before, like trying to get back to No. 1, there’s a number of things that need to happen. With the recent form I feel encouraged with the things that I’m working on knowing that like they’re showing a lot of good signs
The incredible amount of work Day has put in over the last few years (since slipping down the rankings to as low as 164th last year) in order to overcome the injury issues that have plagued much of his career, is again starting to yield results.
Now, after three consecutive top tens in in his last three starts he has clawed his way back inside the top 50 and all of a sudden he is a genuine chance of playing the Masters for the first time in two years.
With the Arnold Palmer Championship, the Players Championship and the Dell Technologies Match Play all on his immediate schedule ahead of Augusta National on April 6th and all of which he has won previously, then there is every reason to believe he will at least retain his standing in the rankings and more than likely improve but if he struggles in that regard he will keep his options open.
“Plan A is to play Bay Hill, PLAYERS, take a week off and then play the Match Play, take a week off going into Augusta. But if I’m slipping outside of that, then I’ll most likely play Valspar. So, even if I’m outside and I need to play Valero, I’ll most likely try to play Valero and see if I can win that one and get in. Right now, the plan is to play Bay Hill, THE PLAYERS and Match Play.”
The inevitable question about those who have gone to LIV and how he would react to them now being able to play all majors was asked and Day was pragmatic in his answer.
“Yeah, I think for some of the guys that voiced their opinions about LIV, it will probably be a little bit more awkward in regards to that.
“Actually, I miss the guys, I miss the guys that left. In regard to some of those guys, like Phil and Dustin, Cammy and all those guys, it’s kind of sad that they left. But I’m OK with them coming back.
“I think the majors should have the best players in the world and I think those guys deserve the right to go in and play the major championships. Will it be awkward for some? Yes. For me it won’t be because I’ll be catching up with some mates, which is going to be great and I’m hoping that I get to see them.”
Disappointment but still impressive for Lee and Davis at Sawgrass
Min Woo Lee – found his share of trouble on Sunday but still an impressive Players debut – photo Getty Images
Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis might not have had the Sundays they were hoping for at the Players Championship but their seven way share of 6th place in such a strong field and in the case of Lee, in his debut in the event, brought to a close an impressive week for the Australian pair.
Lee began the last round two behind the eventual winner, Scottie Scheffler and after an opening birdie from 6 feet things looked promising for the 24 year old in pursuit of not only this prestigious title but full playing rights on the PGA Tour.
After sharing the lead when he arrive at the 4th tee, Trouble would strike at the par 4 when he found the water with his second and took triple bogey.
While his playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, was edging further ahead of the field, Lee was holding on until a wild drive at the reachable par 5 11th would lead to a double bogey and any hope of applying any pressure to Scheffler was gone and his task was then to finish as best he could.
Another bogey came at the 14th after missing the green left but to his credit and reflecting the constitution he possesses, Lee birdied the 16th and 17th, the latter after a magnificent tee shot to 4 feet at the treacherous par 3.
His tee shot at the last forced him to lay up well short of the green and although he hit a nice pitch to 12 feet, the putt missed for another bogey and this time a very costly one. A par at the last would have given him a two-way tie of 5th but the bogey saw him fall into his seven way tie for 6th.
He, along with Davis will still earn US$736,000, one of Lee’s biggest cheques in the game, but the bogey at the last cost him US$230,000.
“Yeah, it happened really quick,” said Lee referring to a roller coaster day. “It’s one of those things where it’s Sunday and you just make a couple bad decisions and it all kind of falls down. But I hung in there pretty well. I didn’t have it all today.
“It’s funny how yesterday I felt like I had the best swing in the world, and then today I just felt like nothing could go right. So nice finish and I’m pretty proud of the result and I think it will take me a long way. It could have been a lot worse. That’s for sure. It wasn’t easy. That’s part of it.”
Despite the difficulties of Championship Sunday, Lee was delighted with the experience and knows he can build on it.
“It’s awesome,” said Lee. I mean, to be, “I’ve been in final groups quite a lot lately, and to be on the PGA TOUR in one of the biggest PGA TOUR tournaments, it’s awesome. I mean, if I just keep putting myself in those positions, hopefully I can get a Sunday done. But it’s another top-10 finish and I’m really proud. Sundays are just tough.
Davis too, will be ruing a final round 74 especially the double bogey he took at the 17th which, like Lee, cost him a lot of money as at the point he was heading for a possible top 3 finish and as much as US$500,00 more than he eventually earned.
Still, that’s golf and Davis was philosophical about the day and happy with his improvement from recent weeks.
“It was a great week for me,” said the Sydney golfer. “I’ve had a bit of a rough stretch over the last five, six tournaments, so it’s a very welcome change to see some good golf this week.
“I was there a lot better mentally this week, feeling — physically feeling well, and mentally a lot more on top of things. Yeah, for the most part this week stayed that way. Didn’t have my best stuff tee to green for most of the week, but held things together very well by staying patient. And, yeah, it’s a little annoying finishing on 17 like that, but otherwise it was a good grind.”
For Scheffler it was his 6th PGA Tour win since and including his breakthrough in Phoenix 13 months ago. The 26 year old moves back to the number one spot in the world ranking and given the next two events in which he will play, the Match Play and the Masters, he will be the defending champion then his reign at the top looks perhaps secure for some time despite the brilliance of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.
Jason Day once again performed well when finishing 19th.
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Wade Ormsby wins 4th Asian Tour title
Wade Ormsby – photo Paul Lakatos
South Australian, Wade Ormsby, overcame Chonlatit Chuenboonngam on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the International Series Thailand today after a compelling finish at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin.
Ormsby triumphed after holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th while Chonlatit missed his birdie attempt from eight feet.
The 42 year old Ormsby had trailed Chonlatit, the clubhouse leader on 20 under, by one shot with three to play but made a birdie on 16 and had a chance to win on the last when he splashed out to 12 feet from a greenside bunker but missed his birdie attempt to set up extra time.
The Australian closed with a seven-under-par 65 while little-known Chonlatit, a graduate from the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last year and playing the tournament of his life, shot a 64.
It’s the fourth Asian Tour victory of Ormsby’s career and the first since his win in the Hong Kong Open in 2020.
The US$2 million event was worth US$360,000 to Ormsby and after missing the cut in New Zealand last week he was coming to terms with his turnaround.
“I can’t believe I am here,” said Ormsby. “I had a tough week down in New Zealand last week. I was so annoyed with myself as I knew I was playing well. I worked so hard with my coach Grant Field. I am so stoked.”
After playing LIV Golf for most of 2022, Ormsby lost his place in the line-up for 2023 but is keen to get back and knows wins such as this week’s can assist his cause.
“The Asian Tour and International Series are high up on my priority list, I’d love to get back on LIV, I just have to try and manage it all. I just so happy I have won an International Series event especially here at Black Mountain, I love the place.”
Sydney’s Kevin Yuan was the next best of the Australians when he finished in an impressive tie for 5th and earned US$82,000.
The Asian Tour heads to the subcontinent next for The DGC Open presented by Mastercard. The US$750,000 tournament is being played at Delhi Golf Club from March 16-19.
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Former leading amateur Dobbelaar wins NZPGA Championship
Louis Dobbelaar and his father Vince – photo Golf New Zealand
New Zealand raised now Australian, Louis Dobbelaar, has broken through for his first win in professional golf with three shot victory over local golfer Sung Jin Yeo at the New Zealand PGA Championship at Gulf Harbour north of Auckland.
Dobbelaar, a former Australian and New Zealand Amateur Champion, had previously recorded 3rd place finishes at the Australian and Queensland PGA Championships in early 2022 but it has been lean pickings since and this win will prove crucial in his development as a professional as leading into this week he was a lowly 100th on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit.
The event carried one of the smallest purses on the Australasian Tour schedule but it will advance him to 23rd on the OOM and assures the still only 21 year old of full status for the next season.
Dobbelaar and Yeo were locked in a tight battle throughout the final 36 holes after both shared the lead at the halfway mark, and the duo was again tied in the lead through ten holes today before Yeo dropped three shots in the next two holes.
Dobbelaar bogeyed the 13th but maintained a two shot lead through to the 18th hole where he parred to a bogey by Yeo and one of New Zealand golf’s most significant titles was his by three shots.
The win was made even more special by the presence of his father, a New Zealander residing in Australia, who flew in for the final day to caddy for him.
“Pretty special to have him here,” said Dobbelaar. “He saw me win the NZ Am so it was nice that he could see me do this as well.”
“It’s pretty surreal. I don’t think it will sink in for a little while.
“I’m just happy that Dad could see me win this one.”
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Lee and Davis ready to strike at Players Championship
Min Woo Lee – file photo – Bruce Young
Australians enjoy an impressive record at the Players Championship with five of them winning a total of six championships and two having finished runner-up, and, tomorrow, yet another name just might be added to the list.
The second and third rounds were completed on day three of the event at the TPC Sawgrass today with Min Woo Lee in or near the lead for much of round three after a hole out for eagle at his opening hole.
He was tied for the lead playing the last with the game’s current dominant player, Scottie Scheffler, but after driving it close to the water at the last and then missing the green right he took bogey to the birdie of Scheffler’s and as the event heads into tomorrow’s final day the difference between the pair is two.
Another two shots back is Cameron Davis who birdied his final two holes to move within striking distance.
For Lee, however, who has a start in this prestigious event by being (just) inside the top 50 in the world, the opportunity exists tomorrow to secure his status on the PGA Tour and if he were to win he would jump close to 20th in the ranking and even a strong finish tomorrow might well earn him special temporary membership of the PGA Tour.
Lee was first asked about the great start he had when holing out at the first.
“Piped my driver down there. I had, I think, 112 in, something like that. It might have been less; actually, that might have been in yards. I had a 55, a little bit on the downslope, and my caddie Stew and I were in between hitting a 50 and 55, and, luckily, I thinned a nice 55 in there and one-hopped and back-spun in the hole. So, it wasn’t a perfect shot but it looked good on TV. I saw it just before. I won’t say I thinned it; keep it between us (laughing).”
“It was amazing, amazing day,” added Lee. “Just coming on 17 and 18 and hearing the crowd chant, and that’s all I’m asking for. Yeah, just had a lot of fun today. Did a lot of the right things, and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.
“Tomorrow could be the biggest day of my life, but I’m going to go out there and have fun again. It’s been the motto for the last three months. Not taking it too seriously. I like to have fun and interact with the fans when I can. Unlike others, you know, they’re very serious. So, yeah, I’m just out here enjoying my time, and like I said, I just crept into this tournament and making the most of it and soaking it all in.”
Davis is close enough tomorrow to make an impact on those ahead.
“It was a good round,” said the Seattle based Sydneysider. “I felt like I got just about everything I could have out of that round. This whole day actually, I played, what, 25 holes or so and I felt like I did a really good job of getting the most out of what I had. So, yeah, awesome to get some momentum, awesome to see my name up toward the top of the leaderboard. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to keep pushing tomorrow and keep doing what I’ve been doing and hopefully some more birdies drop.
“This course can suit anyone or no one. I mean, it’s not overly long, it forces you to take some shorter lines off the tees because you can’t cut a lot of corners and because the pins are cut in the way they are, good shots get rewarded, some almost great shots don’t.
“Sometimes it can be very hard to make pars even though you’re feeling like you’re playing well. Sometimes it feels like the birdies won’t stop coming. So I’m glad I had the latter on the back nine today.
“You just have to get out of your way and play the golf course as it presents itself to you as you go around and try not to force anything to happen, just keep on, yeah, kind of cruising. It feels like I’ve been cruising even though I haven’t been hitting it super great off the tee. I’ve kept myself in it.”
Jason Day might be too far from the lead to figure in the finish as far as far as winning is concerned but the former champion of this event continues to play well and finds himself in a share of 14th place and eight shots from the lead.
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Dobbelaar and Yeo lead NZPGA Championship
Louis Dobbelaar – file photo
With just three more events on the 2022/2023 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule to be completed before the all-important Order of Merit is decided, every dollar or point counts in the race for the significant pathways and exemptions on offer for various milestones.
This week’s New Zealand PGA Championship at Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparoa Peninsula just north of Auckland, might carry one of the smallest purses of the season but it might yet have an influence on just where the careers of several might head at the completion of the season in early April.
At the halfway stage of the 72 hole event, Queensland’s Louis Dobbelaar shares the lead with local golfer, Sun Jin Yeo, the pair three ahead of the field as the weekend looms.
Dobbelaar who last season starred in his rookie season on the PGA Tour of Australasia including a 3rd place finish at the Australian PGA Championship, has struggled this season to the point where he has yet to record a finish inside the top 30, his 30th place finish at last week’s New Zealand Open his best to date.
Dobbelaaar is currently 100th on the Order of Merit and will need a big finish to the season if he is to regain playing privileges for next season.
No-one is more aware of his predicament than Dobbelaar himself.
“When you’re in a bit of a situation, you have more reason to focus,” Dobbelaar said of his position on the leaderboard.
“That definitely engages me a bit more but I’ve been trying to be like that from the start of events lately and been playing a bit more solid.
“Just keep that engagement from the start and hit as many good shots as possible.
“The last few weeks I’ve definitely found a bit of momentum, not so much in my game, more so mindset-wise.
“It’s been an interesting start to my career but I’m just playing the way I’ve always felt I can play.”
Yeo is a former New Zealand Junior Champion who plays at nearby North Shore Golf Club and used his local knowledge of the Robert Trent Jones designed layout which was used for the 1998 World Cup and two previous New Zealand Opens to assist his cause.
There are Order of Merit implications further down the leaderboard with Vic Open winner Michael Hendry (currently 6th on the OOM) in a tie for 14th at five-under and Vic PGA champion Andrew Martin (currently 4th) in a tie for 22nd one stroke further back.
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Brett Coletta survives 4 hole playoff for first professional victory
Brett Coletta – image Australian Golf Media
Victorian 26 year old, Brett Coletta, survived a four hole playoff against NSW golfer, Lincoln Tighe, to win his second PGA Tour of Australasia event but his first as a professional at the TPS Hunter Valley event at Cypress Lakes in Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley region.
Coletta set out on his final round more than 3 hours ahead of the final group but reeled off a round of 61 to set the clubhouse mark at 11 under and waited as both Tighe and Jack Munro fought out what would ultimately be the right to join Coletta in the playoff.
With a par at his final hole Tighe had outlasted the luckless Munro and so it was to what would ultimately be a four hole playoff.
Coletta turned professional soon after winning the Queensland Open as an amateur in October of 2016, a week after he had suffered a dramatic loss to Curtis Luck at the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship in Korea.
Coletta was gutted by that loss as he had led Luck by seven shots heading into the final round, a win that week providing the victor a ticket to the 2017 Masters. It was not to be and that he bounced back so quickly at the Brisbane Golf Club so soon after told the story of a young man with not only a fine game, but a great constitution.
He managed to get a few starts by invite on the PGA Tour but he was unable to gain full status there and has spent the last few years plying his trade on the Korn Ferry Tour where in 2019 he went so close to gaining his PGA Tour rights. He finished just outside the crucial top 25 and he has been resigned to playing the Korn Ferry Tour and wherever else he could gain starts since.
His form in the current PGA Tour of Australasia season to date has been mixed missing the cut in the bigger events but putting together several top tens in lesser events but now with this victory he has moved to 8th on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit and the door has opened for Coletta to move further up the Order of Merit and gain access to international exemptions especially given that his victory earns him a start at next week’s New Zealand Open in Queenstown.
It was an agonising loss for Tighe who, like Coletta, was chasing an important win in his career. At this stage he does not have a start in New Zealand which may or may not change by Thursday next but there is clear evidence this powerful golfer’s game is on a huge upward curve having finished runner-up along with Coletta at the Victorian PGA Championship last year.
Tighe’s last and only win came at the 2014 NSW PGA Championship but he has suffered with injuries for much of his career. At his best he is an exciting player to watch and it is hoped he can build on what has been an encouraging start to 2023.
Munro finished alone in third positions and pocketed A$17,500 followed by Queenslander Douglas Klein in 4th place with Nick Flanagan and last week’s Korn Ferry Tour winner, Rhein Gibson sharing 5th place, just three shots from the playoff.
The leading female in the mixed gender event was Japan’s Yuna Takagi who tied for 12th.
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Brendan Smith turns back the clock at TPS Hunter Valley
33 year old NSW golfer, Brendan Smith, one of Australia’s best amateurs before turning professional a decade ago, turned back the clock to lead the TPS Hunter Valley at the halfway stage of the event at Cypress Lakes in the Hunter Valley.
Smith, who these days works in a coalmine in Central Queensland, took time away from that role to tee it up once again in a PGA Tour of Australasia event and for the man who grew up in Belmont south of Newcastle and not too far from this week’s venue, his efforts to date might yet spark a return to playing the game full time.
Smith knows the Cypress Lakes layout well having earned a scholarship here in his younger days and won the iconic Jack Newton Celebrity Classic on two occasions over the Hunter Valley layout.
Smith knows it is early days yet but with less pressure on him to perform, given his well paid job in the mines, he is taking a different attitude to this rather limited opportunity.
“I can come and play golf and shoot eight-over tomorrow and it’s not going to change my attitude now,” Smith told the PGA Tour of Australasia. “It’s either eight-over or eight-under, it doesn’t bother me no more.
“I know my best is still good enough and it’s just a matter of doing it,” added Smith, who has aspirations to return to the Asian Tour.
“I could come out the next couple of days and play like a busted arse but I’ve got that desire to play back again.
“I’m only 33. I’m as fit as I’ve ever been… I don’t know what the next two or three years hold for me, I’ve got no idea.”
Smith’s second round of 67 to go with his opening 66 has given him a one shot lead through 36 holes over the Gold Coast based Jack Murdoch, Victorian Peter Wilson and New Zealand’s Hanee Song, who leads the ladies side of the mixed gender event.
Smith’s previous best finish on the PGA Tour of Australasia was when 4th at the WAPGA Championship 11 years ago but his renewed appetite for the game has opened the chance for something better this weekend.
Pre-tournament favourites, Rhein Gibson who last week won a Korn Ferry Tour event, and Order of Merit leader, David Micheluzzi, are tied for 27th at 2 under and five from the lead.
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Hanee Song – image Australian Golf Media
Jason Day eyes world number one again
Jason Day – encouraging signs for the former world number one – file photo PGA of America
In a wide-ranging virtual interview with Australia’s golfing media today, Jason Day provided further evidence that the form he has shown in returning to the top 50 in the world on Monday was the start of a possible return to the elite of the game.
“It’s been a good start to the season,” said Day. “That West Coast Swing was great for me, getting out to Palm Springs early, getting the work in at the Vintage Club was great and then the last three starts have been awesome. Especially playing great in those elevated events really helped my world ranking, back inside the top-50 now, which is great. I’ve just got to keep pushing that world ranking up.
“The goal is to try and get back to No. 1 and whatever wins come in that, they’re like little steps along the way to get back to No. 1. If it happens sooner, great. If it doesn’t, I’m just going to keep working hard and hopefully it happens somewhere down the road.”
Interestingly, when Day suggested to the world in his very first year on the PGA Tour as an 18 year old that he would like to be the game’s number one, his perceived cockiness at the time, especially in an era when Tiger Woods reigned supreme, was seen by many including an American media, as the cockiness of a green-horn 18 year old from the other side of the world and ‘how dare’ he suggest such a far-fetched goal.
Well things have changed for the then young man who dreamed big at the time and backed his belief in getting to the top of the game. It was achieved nine years later in September of 2015 when just a few weeks after winning his first major title at the PGA Championship he was on the top looking back at those chasing.
Now he can articulate his desire to be the world number one again without any fear of retribution by those who might have thought it brash 17 years ago.
But he knows this will not be an easy task although he has shown previously and now that he is prepared to put in the hard yards to get there.
“You look at Rahm and McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, add Cantlay into the mix and there’s like a number of other guys like a Morikawa, and I can’t remember who else is inside the top-10 but there’s a number of guys that are very talented out here.
“The fields are so deep these days. Not saying they weren’t deep back when I was No. 1 or before me, but it just feels like these guys are really, really prepared to win and play well.
“And we’ve seen it, like over the last three weeks, three guys have regained No. 1 in the world, so there’s three guys right now that are playing really, really good golf. I’m just trying to keep my head down, stay focused and work on my game and hopefully at some point things will start to really turn and I’ll start to gain a lot more confidence.
“And not so much like can I win again, it’s more confidence in the ability of actually producing shots under the pump. I think that’s more of a thing that I’m trying to work towards because I know that I’ve won and I can win, it’s just something that I’m working towards.”
It might be hard to explain in regards like being there (world Number 1), knowing what I had to do to get there and achieving that was — I don’t know, it’s so addicting to go through that journey and that process. Me being a competitor and knowing that like I definitely have the game to get back there, it’s just a matter of like staying healthy and trying to make these correct changes.”
Day was clear in the fact that he has missed being able to play all the majors as has been the case, other than when injury or recent poor form prevented such, for the last twelve or so years
“I definitely want to get back to Augusta. Obviously missing the majors actually has been really tough for me to kind of sit back and — obviously I get to play the PGA, but missing the other majors, it’s really hard for me to sit back and kind of watch it.
“I feel like, you know, working my way back inside the top-50, I know that like it’s obviously a really great thing. I’ve enjoyed the journey thus far, but like I was saying before, like trying to get back to No. 1, there’s a number of things that need to happen. With the recent form I feel encouraged with the things that I’m working on knowing that like they’re showing a lot of good signs
The incredible amount of work Day has put in over the last few years (since slipping down the rankings to as low as 164th last year) in order to overcome the injury issues that have plagued much of his career, is again starting to yield results.
Now, after three consecutive top tens in in his last three starts he has clawed his way back inside the top 50 and all of a sudden he is a genuine chance of playing the Masters for the first time in two years.
With the Arnold Palmer Championship, the Players Championship and the Dell Technologies Match Play all on his immediate schedule ahead of Augusta National on April 6th and all of which he has won previously, then there is every reason to believe he will at least retain his standing in the rankings and more than likely improve but if he struggles in that regard he will keep his options open.
“Plan A is to play Bay Hill, PLAYERS, take a week off and then play the Match Play, take a week off going into Augusta. But if I’m slipping outside of that, then I’ll most likely play Valspar. So, even if I’m outside and I need to play Valero, I’ll most likely try to play Valero and see if I can win that one and get in. Right now, the plan is to play Bay Hill, THE PLAYERS and Match Play.”
The inevitable question about those who have gone to LIV and how he would react to them now being able to play all majors was asked and Day was pragmatic in his answer.
“Yeah, I think for some of the guys that voiced their opinions about LIV, it will probably be a little bit more awkward in regards to that.
“Actually, I miss the guys, I miss the guys that left. In regard to some of those guys, like Phil and Dustin, Cammy and all those guys, it’s kind of sad that they left. But I’m OK with them coming back.
“I think the majors should have the best players in the world and I think those guys deserve the right to go in and play the major championships. Will it be awkward for some? Yes. For me it won’t be because I’ll be catching up with some mates, which is going to be great and I’m hoping that I get to see them.”
LIV Golf begins second season in Mexico
New Zealander Danny Lee – latest LIV Golf signing – file photo
The second season of LIV Golf begins this week in Mexico when the LIV Golf Mayakoba event gets underway at the El Camaleón Golf Course in Riviera Maya near Cancun.
The El Camaleon was designed by Greg Norman so no real surprise the former PGA Tour event venue is now being used for a tour in which Norman has played such a part in establishing.
Several new signings are included in the revised 48 player line-up including Mito Pereira, Brendan Steele, Thomas Pieters, Dean Burmester and New Zealand’s Danny Lee who has only just signed in the last few days.
The Australians in the field are Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, and Jed Morgan with Wade Ormsby having lost his place in the line-up.
The event is the first of 14 scheduled for this season at this stage, this event followed in three weeks by an event in Tucson, then two weeks the Tour heads to Orlando before it arrives in Adelaide for an event starting on April 22nd.
In addition to the US$20 million individual purse a further US$5 million is allotted for the incorporated 12 x 4 man team contest.
Field
Jason Day returns to world’s top 50
Jason Day’s share of 9th place at this morning’s Genesis Invitational, his third top ten in his last three PGA Tour starts, has the former world number one now back inside the top 50 in the world ranking and on track for a start at the Masters should he remain inside the top 50 by the week preceding the event in early April.
Day’s position in today’s revised rankings is now 46th after beginning the year just outside the top 100, a reflection on the tremendous strides his game has made since adopting swing changes to accommodate his ongoing back issues.
Day improved 17 places from his overnight share of 26th with a final round of 65 at the Riviera Country Club, the second best of the day, and continues an impressive run which has moved him inside the top 50 for the first time since missing the cut at the Masters two years ago.
“I feel like some weeks the body is reacting perfectly to what I’m trying to do in regards to changing certain patterns in the golf swing,” said Day at last week’s event in Phoenix.
“Then there’s just been pretty much like a learning curve with regard to changing. It’s been really difficult to change the swing and compete out here. I would love to have a swing like a Rahm or Rory that is tested over time and it’s been successful.
“But for me I’ve had to make those changes because of my body. Unfortunately, I’m just through that, I’m going through the testing phase right now of trying to change that as I compete. That can be difficult.
“Because you wake up some days it’s like absolutely good and perfect and some days it’s just, you know — like, I mean, first round to second round here, it’s just totally different. It’s amazing. But I’m just grinding away trying to do the best job I can.”
Clearly, for Day, it is very much a work in progress but that he is putting himself in the contest on a more regular basis can only do wonders for his confidence and the 35 year old, who was so regularly contending in major championships earlier in his career, is regaining some of that same consistency.
Ten top 5 finishes in major championships including his PGA title in 2015, highlights a man with the capacity to, when fit, compete at the very pointy end of the toughest tournaments in the world and against the game’s best players.
SCORES