Jason Day says Paris Olympics reminded him how to drive himself without focusing on money as a prize

Playing for nothing but a medal at the Paris Olympics was the perfect reminder to Jason Day about what’s most important to winning golf tournaments.

Jason Day finished tied for ninth at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Jason Day says his Olympic experience served as a reminder about the urgency to perform at all times, as there was no prize in Paris without a top-three finish.

Day, who teamed up with Min Woo Lee at the Games, is the best placed of three Australians remaining in the PGA Tour Playoffs to progress to the Tour Championship and has the fire in his belly to even get back to world No.1.

The 36-year-old’s climb from the depths in the post-Covid 2021 and 2022 seasons has taken him to back to the world’s top 30 – he’s currently 26 – and he is set to return to the Presidents Cup team for next month’s showdown with the US.

Ahead of his opening round of the BMW Championship in Colorado, from which the top 30 ranked players will progress to the Tour Championship, Day reflected on his Olympic campaign, in which he finished in a tie for ninth, and the back-to-basics mentality it brought out in him, having played for so much money for so long.

“Well, it taught me that it’s not always about the money that we play for because we went over there, it’s one, two or three, and if you don’t get one of those, you’re going home,” he said.

“I finished T9 and I’m like, congratulations, you finished T9; you don’t get anything. You go home.

Tough finish but we’re off and running in Paris @olympicgolfpic.twitter.com/58IIUzjoAs

— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) August 1, 2024

“It taught me the urgency of, hey, I need to go out there and try and do something to win. I think sometimes you can get a little bit comfortable out here and going, yeah, top 10 is not too bad, top five is not too bad.

“But when you are playing with some urgency, when your back is pushed against the wall and you go out and do what you need to do, that’s a level of motivation, a level of playing that I would love to be in all the time.

“It’s just sometimes you just kind of get in your own way and you’re like, yeah, a top 10 is pretty good here this week, but that’s not the mentality. You have to go out and try to win every single week.

“That’s kind of what I got out of it. You’ve either going to finish one, two or three, or it’s not good enough, and obviously it wasn’t good enough.”

Go low or go home #fedexcupplayoffspic.twitter.com/rQdUsuBW0F

— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) August 21, 2024

Day was asked about the cash bonuses offered to medallists from other countries that could be “life-changing” for some.

But while Australian medallists were also given a cash reward by the Australian Olympic Committee, Day said his overriding feeling was that was a bonus, not something anyone competed for.

“I think being from Australia and the way that we view the Olympics down in Australia is completely different to most other countries in regards to whatever they pay out,” he said.

“The money that they pay out is just like a little bit of icing on top of the cake because at the end of the day you’re trying to win a medal, and as Australians that’s what we’ve always looked at.

“It’s like, gold, silver, bronze. Did the person win the medal? That’s all our main focus.”