The Big Three: Jason Day

The Big Three1

AUGUSTA WEAPONS: All-round game, dogged tenacity and belief

When, in early 2008, a 20-year-old Jason Day first mentioned that he wanted to take the world number one spot from Tiger Woods, the golf world gave a little chuckle. It stopped short of actually laughing out loud, however, because it knew this Aussie kid could definitely play a bit.

The son of an Australian father (who died when Day was 12) and Filipino mother, Day was the Queensland Amateur champion at 16. At 19, he made five cuts in seven tournaments on the PGA Tour playing on sponsors’ invites, and, in 2007, he earned his passage to the Big Leagues by finishing fifth on the Nationwide Tour (now the Web.com Tour) money list.

Impressive results aside, Day’s launch monitor numbers were little short of astounding. His 5-iron swing speed was clocked by TaylorMade technicians at just under the Tour average… for a driver!

Day wasn’t the first newcomer in the history of sport to tout his own skills, however. “At the time it just seemed like bravado,” says Bob Harig, senior golf writer for ESPN. “A lot of players have a similar confidence at a young age. But it was hard to envision Day as a major champion or world No.1 back then.”

Four top-10 finishes in 46 events over the next two years certainly didn’t persuade anyone Day was Woods’ successor-in-waiting. But his first PGA Tour win – the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship – and an 8th place finish in the season-long FedEx Cup at least gave an inkling he might one day have what it takes to compete with the game’s elite, Woods in particular.

But, says Harig, it was during the 2011 Masters, when Day shot a second-round 64 and closed with a 68 for a total of 12-under 276, that he really got a sense of just how good Day could one day become. “His length and ability to stand up to the pressure were very impressive,” adds Harig. “And he didn’t really beat himself, Schwartzel simply blew by everyone. If anything, the mystery was why he didn’t win more from that point until 2015, when he broke through with force.”

The numbers bear Harig out. Over the next three-and-a-half years, Day played a total of 66 PGA Tour events and finished in the top 10 24 times – better than one top-10 every three tournaments. He had five top-10s in the 13 majors, including three top-threes, and he banked over $12.5m. But he won only once – at the 2014 WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship played at Dove mountain, outside of Tucson, AZ where he beat Victor Dubuisson in the final on the 23rd hole.

Just as Jordan Spieth had excelled in 2015 with two victories in the majors, so too Day rose to a whole new level, claiming five titles including his first major win.

At the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in August, Day shot an incredible 20-under 268 – the lowest score against par ever in a major. With his mentor and stand-in father Colin Swatton on the bag, Day broke into tears realising how far he had come since his troubled youth in southeastern Queensland. He finished the year 3rd in the FedEx Cup standings, and second in the world.

Day will obviously start among the favourites at Augusta. He, like Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and a few others, appears capable of hitting every shot the course demands. Harig though reminds those putting money on Day that there are no guarantees at Augusta, or anywhere else in golf.

“Just look at his countryman Greg Norman,” says Harig. “He came close so often but never did win. He is the perfect cautionary tale. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Jason Day win the Masters.”