Australia’s Jason Day suffers worrying back injury flare-up

Australia’s Jason Day’s Masters campaign got off to the worst possible start as he suffered a recurrance of a troubling back injury in bizarre fashion.

Jason Day, of Australia, holds his back on the fourth tee during the first round for the Masters golf tournament Thursday, April 11, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Bending down to kiss his young daughter has thrown Jason Day’s US Masters bid in doubt.

Day, who struggled to line up putts and walked in obvious discomfort, signed his card and went straight for medical treatment after his opening round 70.

The world No.14 had declared himself fit and pain-free on Wednesday but required assistance from a physio just two holes into his round.

Jason Day is treated for a back injury. Picture: Twitter

He aggravated inflammation around the facet joints in his lower back playing with daughter Lucy prior to his afternoon tee time.

Despite the injury, Day, 31, sits just four shots off the lead.

His management team expressed hope he would recover before Friday’s second round.

“My back is good - there’s no pain,” Day said on Wednesday.

Day battled on despite the back complaint. Picture: Getty

His coach Colin Swatton confirmed Day was dealing with “a little bit of inflammation” but was confident it would not be an issue.

“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,” Swatton said before Thursday’s incident.

Fellow Australian Cameron Smith said: “You wouldn’t wish that on anyone, let alone any of the Aussies. Hopefully he’s alright and keeps going.”

Day reacts to a shot late in his opening round. Picture: Getty

Adam Scott said Day had been dealing with back pain for a while.

“I mean part of me thinks that that’s nothing new, he knows what to do, he seems to have a bad back all the time and plays great,” Scott said.

“So I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.

“Hopefully it’s nothing major and he gets through and then he can play the rest of the week.”

Originally published as Australia’s Jason Day suffers worrying back injury flare-up