Jason Day is the World No.3 golfer. He’s a major champion and a winner of 10 PGA Tour titles. He’s also a realist.
“I'm a little bit unprepared, to be honest,” Day said. “Usually I have a week or two or more weeks of tournaments under my belt, maybe a week or two more weeks of practice.”
His lack of tournament golf stretches back much further than just leading into the year’s first major.
The Queenslander has played just 30 rounds of tournament golf since he finished second at the PGA Championship last August. Since then he was forced to withdraw twice late in the FedEx Cup final series with back problems, which ultimately sidelined him for the remainder of 2016.
This year, he’s played 72 holes four times – missed the cut once, was a late withdrawal for the WGC Mexico Championship. He also pulled out of the WGC Dell Match Play after six holes and revealed his anguish at learning in January that his mother, Dening, was fighting lung cancer and had been given 12 months to live.
Day flew his mum to the US for further tests and she underwent an operation on March 24 where a quarter of her lung was removed.
The 29-year-old revealed yesterday that his mother’s health has weighed heavily on him and playing golf has been the furthest from his mind. He was even doubtful to play the Masters this week, but after doctors said the operation was a success and no chemotherapy was required, a relieved Day turned his attention toward Augusta.
“I don't know, maybe it's a good thing. I'm going to just do the best job I can with what I've got. Obviously my priority and my main focus was my mother, and now that's kind of evolved and taken care of, and I can start to focus more on the golf side of things and do the best job I can. That's all I can really do is control that.” - Jason Day
“It's hard to miss a week like this, even though there's a lot going on,” he said. “I needed to make sure that my mum was okay and once I knew the surgery went well, I was okay with flying down here.
“I didn't pick up a club from the Match Play till when I got here (Augusta) Friday, because obviously I was busy with my mum and busy with my family and not really thinking about playing golf.
“I don't know, maybe it's a good thing. I'm going to just do the best job I can with what I've got. Obviously my priority and my main focus was my mother, and now that's kind of evolved and taken care of, and I can start to focus more on the golf side of things and do the best job I can. That's all I can really do is control that.”
The 29-year-old said he had reached a tipping point when he withdrew in Austin. He felt guilty and selfish about playing golf when his mum was about to undergo major surgery two days later.
“Obviously I knew the surgery was Friday at that Match Play event,” he said. “My mum was telling me, just go out and play, forget about what's going on and go out and play because ultimately that's what a parent will say.
“Unfortunately, in my mind, I'm not like that; I can't think like that. I felt selfish being there and playing, I was stuck between two worlds, because my mum was telling me to go; I'm defending champion and I should go, but I don't want to be there because I want to be with my mum and make sure the surgery went well.
“Some days I would wake up and I would feel really, really bad and sad about what's going on with my mum and other days I would wake up and then I would start feeling guilt because I didn’t feel like I was feeling bad enough for the situation that my mum was going through.
“Golf was the last thing on my mind, and when I was playing at the Match Play, I knew it was going to be a non‑event week for me. I was standing there with a wedge in my hand from 145 yards and I hit it 160 yards. When my mind is not there, I'm so far off. When my mind is focused and ready to play, I'm usually one or two yards off. I just knew that I had to be back home.”
This week, with more positive news from surgeons, Day feels like he’s ready to play golf again.
“I just feel a lot lighter,” he said. “I feel refreshed in a way.
“All the hard stuff is behind us and we've just got to make sure that we're staying on top of it, and that I can actually get back to focusing on golf because I know my mum is getting well taken care of now and kind of the hard part is behind us.”
Having finished T2 and third in two of his first three appearances at Augusta, there has always been a high expectation, from Day and almost all the golfing world, that the Queenslander would win himself a green jacket sooner rather than later.
In trying to achieve that goal, Day could be accused of trying too hard and letting his emotions dictate his game during his past three Masters starts.
Day’s lower expectations for this week, compared with previous years, might just be the mental approach that could earn him a green jacket.
“I can start focusing on golf a lot more than what I have had,” he said.
“I'm kind of back into the rebuilding stage, and it's weird for a person in my position to say that. It has been a while since I've won and it has been a while since I've actually thought about golf because of what has gone on.
“So right now I'm in the process of actually trying to just do my work. Try and get better each and every week, each and every day, and hopefully the ultimate goal is to make sure that I fit the puzzle or the pieces of the puzzle together and it turns into a tournament win down the road.
“Two things in my life, Tiger Woods and Augusta National, the Masters, is why I play golf,” he said. “And this is my favourite week of the year. It always is. To be able to do it this week would be great." - Jason Day
“I think with the tournament this week, I'm going to try to do the best job I can. But at the start of the season, I didn’t play too well.
“I've just got to know that I don't need to panic and I don't need to live on the last week that I played or the last tournament I played, because out here, on the Tour, it's the flavor of the week. A person wins the tournament, they are very popular for a week and then they are talking about the next person, you know what I mean? And they are talking about why this person is so good and why this person is not playing so well.
“I think the biggest thing is that there's a lot of expectation that is put on our shoulders because of it and everything is result‑driven, and it's not about what people think or expect or try and put you up against. It's more so of what you need to do, and do the best that you can.”
While his expectations are lower than normal, his desire to fulfill the lifelong dream and win the Masters is as strong as ever.
“Two things in my life, Tiger Woods and Augusta National, the Masters, is why I play golf,” he said. “And this is my favourite week of the year. It always is. To be able to do it this week would be great.
“Obviously with all the emotions that happened beforehand, hopefully be nice to have my mum here; even if I don't win, it would be nice to have my mum here. She's never been here before. She's never had the opportunity to come over here and she's here now, so hopefully she's healthy enough to fly down.
“But it's great to even think about it. It gets me excited thinking about the possibility of actually winning and obviously accomplishing one of my life goals.
“With that said, I can't get too far ahead of myself because, yeah, it's only Tuesday and Sunday is a very, very long way away.”
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