Australia‘s Jason Day dismisses injury fears, fires warning shot
Rumoured to be struggling with a back injury, Australian Masters hopeful Jason Day has played down claims he’s damaged goods as he ‘flies under the radar’ at Augusta.
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Jason Day has shot down fears his ailing back could derail his US Masters bid.
Day took part in Wednesday’s traditional par-3 competition and declared himself pain free ahead of his opening round.
“No, my back is good,” Day told News Corp.
“I was carrying my little daughter and hitting golf shots in the par-3 and everything is good.
“There’s no pain.”
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Day’s coach Colin Swatton confirmed the world No.14 was dealing with inflammation in his lower back.
“He had to pull out at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and had more discomfort than anything at the Match Play (two weeks ago), so he wasn’t quite himself in the first two rounds,” Swatton said.
“In the third round he just got steamrolled by Phil (Mickelson).
“He’s just got a little bit of inflammation around the facet joints, SI joint in particular.
“It’s just a little bit of discomfort more than anything, nothing structural, he just sort of flared it up.
“I’m not worried about it … if I had to put a number on it I’d say it’s pretty close to 100 per cent.”
Day’s form has been patchy but he said he was happy “flying under the radar”.
“The last two starts that I’ve had haven’t been the greatest … but you just never know what is around the corner. I remember times where I’ve played terrible coming in to Augusta and I’ve actually finished 2nd and 3rd and vice versa where I’ve played well coming into it and haven’t played well at all.
“Going off previous experiences … you can’t hype yourself up too much. It’s easy to get yourself too worked up and if you do that, typically you start making mental errors.”
Day, 31, said he expected the course to firm up despite heavy rain earlier in the week.
“It’s actually playing all right — the greens are starting to get really quick,” he said.
“I know it bucketed down and it seemed like it was going to be soft, but Augusta National have been phenomenal in getting the course in shape for us.”
Swatton said the pair had been focusing on Day’s short-game “because you need it around here”.
“Jason wants to win this — he’s made no qualms in telling the world that he wants to win the Masters,” Swatton said.
“But you can’t overpower this place, there’s been some trainwrecks here from people who have tried, you’ve sort of got to let the golf course come to you, and the more that he does that, he’ll have more success here.
“The people who have had a lot of success here, multiple winners, are patient and are not overly aggressive … and that’s what you’ve got to do here.”
Pairings and tee times for the first and second rounds of the Masters, first major golf championship of 2019 that starts on Thursday at Augusta National (USA unless noted):
1st rd
10:15 PM Thursday - Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus (Honorary starters)
10:30: - Andrew Landry, Adam Long, Corey Conners (CAN)
10:41 - Ian Woosnam (WAL), Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway
10:52 - Mike Weir (CAN), Shane Lowry (IRL), a-Kevin O’Connell,
11:03 - Angel Cabrera (ARG), Aaron Wise, Justin Harding (RSA)
1114 - Danny Willett (ENG), Brandt Snedeker, a-Takumi Kanaya (JPN)
11:25 - Fred Couples, Kim Si-woo (KOR), J. B. Holmes
11:36 - Branden Grace (RSA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN)
11:47 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Charles Howell, Eddie Pepperell (ENG)
11:58 - Sergio Garcia (ESP), Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson (SWE)
12:09 AM Friday - Adam Scott (AUS), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Kyle Stanley
12:31 - Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, a-Viktor Hovland (NOR)
12:42 - Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Marc Leishman (AUS)
12:53 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland
1:04 - Tiger Woods, Li Haotong (CHN), Jon Rahm (ESP)
1:15 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith (AUS)
1:26 - Sandy Lyle (SCO), Michael Kim, Patton Kizzire
1:37 - Trevor Immelman (RSA), Martin Kaymer (GER), a-Devon Bling
1:48 - Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Stewart Cink
1:59 - Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN)
2:10 - Bernhard Langer (GER), Matt Wallace (ENG), a-Alvaro Ortiz (MEX)
2:21 - Alex Noren (SWE), Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)
2:43 - Vijay Singh (FIJ), Billy Horschel, a-Jovan Rebula (RSA)
2:54 - Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Shugo Imahira (JPN)
3:05 - Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter (ENG), Matt Kuchar
3:16 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
3:27 - Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira (JPN)
3:38 - Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day (AUS)
3:49 - Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (ENG), Justin Thomas
4:00 - Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka
ROUND 2
10:30 PM Friday - Sandy Lyle (SCO), Michael Kim, Patton Kizzire
10:41 - Trevor Immelman (RSA), Martin Kaymer (GER), a-Devon Bling
10:52 - Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Stewart Cink
11:03 - Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN)
11:14 - Bernhard Langer (GER), Matt Wallace (ENG), a-Alvaro Ortiz (MEX)
11:25 - Alex Noren (SWE), Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)
11:36 - Vijay Singh (FIJ), Billy Horschel, a-Jovan Rebula (RSA)
11:47 - Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Shugo Imahira (JPN)
11:58 - Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter (ENG), Matt Kuchar
12:09 AM Saturday - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
12:31 - Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira (JPN)
12:42 - Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day (AUS)
12:53 - Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (ENG), Justin Thomas
1:04 - Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka
1:15 - Andrew Landry, Adam Long, Corey Conners (CAN)
1:26 - Ian Woosnam (WAL), Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway
1:37 - Mike Weir (CAN), Shane Lowry (IRL), a-Kevin O’Connell,
1:48 - Angel Cabrera (ARG), Aaron Wise, Justin Harding (RSA)
1:59 - Danny Willett (ENG), Brandt Snedeker, a-Takumi Kanaya (JPN)
2:10pm (1610 GMT) - Fred Couples, Kim Si-woo (KOR), J. B. Holmes
2:32 - Branden Grace (RSA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN)
2:43 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Charles Howell, Eddie Pepperell (ENG)
2:54 - Sergio Garcia (ESP), Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson (SWE)
3:05 - Adam Scott (AUS), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Kyle Stanley
3:16 - Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, a-Viktor Hovland (NOR)
3:27 - Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Marc Leishman (AUS)
3:38 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland
3:49 - Tiger Woods, Li Haotong (CHN), Jon Rahm (ESP)
4:00 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith (AUS)
Originally published as Australia‘s Jason Day dismisses injury fears, fires warning shot
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