Jason Day relishing prospect of going head-to-head with Cam Smith at the Australian PGA Championship

In his prime, Jason Day was the ‘best putter in the world’, so a classic Australian PGA battle on the greens looms between him and Cam Smith.

Jason Day concedes Cam Smith will have more crowd support when the pair play the first two rounds of the Australian PGA Championship together, but has backed his putting to at the very least match that of his fellow Queenslander.

Weather permitting following a couple of days of heavy rain Brisbane, a classic battle on the greens between renowned putters Day and Smith looms on Thursday and Friday – and possibly this weekend – at Royal Queensland.

Smith’s prowess with the flat stick is no secret, and the same could be said for Day when he was dominating world golf nine years ago.

“I know that on my day I’m the best putter in the world and my short game is right there with it,” former world No.1 Day said on Wednesday.

“I’ve had the lowest ever strokes gained putting season in PGA Tour history, so

that’s where I think my putting can be and could potentially get back to

“Will I ever get back there? Probably not, maybe, I don’t know, (but) I just know that my putting now where it is, I feel like it’s good enough to compete if I can I back it in with some good iron play.”

Cam Smith will play in the same group as Jason Day and Min Woo Lee in the opening two rounds of the Australian PGA Championship. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Day said comparing his work on the greens with that of 2022 British Open champion Smith when they were both at their best was difficult.

“He’s had a tremendous short game. What’s great about Cam is that his wedge game was world-class,” Day said.

“Anything from 150 yards and in, he was absolutely world-class, and always gave himself opportunities but also hit it tight all the time.

“Through that window of him playing really good golf through The Open Championship, winning that and running on confidence, he putted really good, but his wedge game was

severely under-rated – it was spectacular.

“Whereas I’ve never really had a good iron game coming into (the green). I had a couple seasons of good iron play, but I’ve always putted really good.

“That’s always been my strength and I’ve known that for a long time. That’s why I’ve always worked hard at it.”

Day, the 2015 US PGA champion who has returned to Australia for the first time in seven years, was excited at the prospect of playing in the same group as Smith and defending tournament champion Min Woo Lee at Royal Queensland.

“I haven’t played competitively with Cammy for a long time and I’ve known Cammy for a while now, actually a long time, and I just see so much potential in Min Woo,” Day said. “Cammy’s a very big favourite being from here, and he’s got a lot of fans here. Even though I’m from here, it’s hard (for me) to get the fan base when I haven’t been here as much.

“I’m looking forward to playing with Min, (and) looking forward to playing with Cam.

“I’m really interested to see the crowds out there, seeing how many people will come out. “Fingers crossed we have good weather. I know that rain is not ideal, but we’re going to have really good weather on the weekend and that should be fun. That should bring out a lot of people.”

Originally published as Jason Day relishing prospect of going head-to-head with Cam Smith at the Australian PGA Championship