Day rises to World No.1 with focus fixed on Augusta

BY BRENDAN JAMES

Three weeks ago, Adam Scott was the hottest player in the game in the wake of consecutive wins at the Honda Classic and the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

World No.1 and loving it. PHOTO: Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

But fellow Queenslander Jason Day has assumed the mantle as the game’s most in-form player after his victory in the World Golf Championships Dell Match Play yesterday, his second win in as many weeks, which has seen him rise back to No.1 in the official world rankings.

His win over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen in the match play final was the 28-year-old’s sixth title in 13 tournament starts, which is a winning strike rate of 46 percent – a figure that compares favourably with that of Tiger Woods in his great stretch of victories throughout 1999 and 2000. During that two-year period, Woods won 17 times in 41 starts, for a success rate of 41.46 percent.

His route back to World No.1, bumping Jordan Spieth back to No.2, appeared unlikely after the opening day of round robin matches when it appeared the reigning US PGA Champion might be forced to withdraw with back injury.

However, he overcame the back spasms to go undefeated through the tournament, with head-to-head victories over Brandt Snedeker, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Oosthuizen in the elimination rounds. What makes it even more remarkable is that members of ‘Team Day’ tried to talk Day into withdrawing after the first day of the match play to let his back recover.

After suffering a back spasm on day one, many on Day's team wanted him to withdraw from the match play to recover in time for the Masters.
PHOTO: Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

“Four of my team tried to talk me out of it. I'm like just don't worry about it,” Day smiled.

“’This week and Augusta, you've got to focus on trying to get healthy and come back strong’, they said. I'm glad I didn't listen. I feel good now, but I'm glad I was able to kind of stick it out because sometimes when you get in those situations you kind of mentally check out.

“When I was warming up, I was on the border of checking out. If I'm mentally checked out, I was going to go, okay, my back is sore. Come off a great week last week, everyone will know I'm injured and then I can just take the rest of the week off. But I didn't want to do that because I knew if I could get through seven guys, I could get to the trophy.”

His march to victory in Austin caps off a remarkable past seven months. Near misses at the US Open and The Open at St Andrews, seemingly ignited a hot streak that began with victory in the Canadian Open. A few weeks later he won his first major, the PGA Championship, before winning two of the first three tournaments in the Fed Ex Cup play-offs.

The wins have seen his bank account bulge with US$9.42 million earned in prizemoney since last July. But one senses he would probably swap all the cash for a Masters green jacket.

“I am looking forward to the Masters,” Day said. “I know it's one tournament that I've always wanted to win. It's one tournament that I've always wanted to put the jacket on and go back every year.

“So the motivation and the want is there. I think the biggest thing to me is to get the rest and recovery coming into the week. Take the first part of this coming week off, go down Thursday, start prepping Friday and go through that whole stage of getting ready for the tournament.

“It's been good momentum for me, confidence-wise, over the last two weeks.

“I can't get comfortable with how I'm playing right now, I can't get lazy, because I've got to understand that what I'm doing is working. So I've got to keep working on the things that have caused me to win over the last two weeks and keep doing that and then stay focused and hopefully put on the green jacket.

“But it is going to be a tough one. It's great to hopefully go there as No. 1. And it's something I'm definitely going to be embracing. It will be fun to walk through the gates as No. 1 in the world.”

Starting his on course preparations at Augusta National early will also allow time for the inevitable media requests that will come with the hype as the first round of the Masters draws closer. Day knows that and is prepared for it.

“I've got to understand there's going to be a lot of hype,” Day said matter-of-factly.

“There's going to be a lot of hype around Jordan, there's going to be a lot of hype around Rory, because he could finish his career Grand Slam. There's going to be a lot of hype around myself going in there as No. 1 in the world. Embrace it. Understand that there's going to be some hype there. But I know the feeling of trying too hard.

“So I have to go in there and focus on a lot of things, do everything that I can, but don't try too hard and don't try and shoot seven under in the tournament by doing that.

“I've done it the last couple of years and I really want to try and get back to good form around that golf course, and that's what I'm trying to focus on.”

After finishing tied second at the Masters in 2011 and third in 2013, Day says he is now better equipped than in previous years to be in contention at Augusta.

Day says he's better equipped, mentally and physically, than in recent trips to the Masters.
PHOTO: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

“I think there's a little bit more belief in my ability that I can get a job done, especially from the second half of last year and even more so over the last two weeks,” Day said.

“But the mindset is different. Knowing that I've been in the heat of the battle, especially more so recently and understanding what that feels like, because everyone knows when you're standing there on Sunday at Augusta it's quiet and you're in your own little world. You have to be able to stay in your own world. You have to be able to focus on what you need to do to get the job done. And if you don't have the best stuff, then find a way to get it done. And that's kind of the mindset that you have to take into it because there's a lot of things that can happen on the backside of Augusta.

“I'm really going to enjoy it, because I'm going to have a lot of fun there this year. And I feel like I'm going to play well. But once again, I just have to focus on what I normally do.”