Australian Open: Jason Day feels hot breath of youth on his back

Jason Day knew Australia’s young guns were coming for him, he just didn’t expect them to get there so soon.

Jason Day makes double bogey on the 9th at The Australian yesterday to bring his Open hopes to a shuddering halt. Picture: Brett Costello

Jason Day knew Australia’s young guns were coming for him, he just didn’t expect them to get there so soon.

About midway through his final round yesterday, when Day dumped his second shot into the water at the 9th hole and made a double bogey to lose all momentum, the 30-year-old Queenslander started to get a hunted look about him.

That wasn’t surprising because he was being tag-teamed. At that stage he was surrounded on the leaderboard by three young ­Australian players Lucas Herbert, 21, Cameron Davis, 22, and ­Cameron Smith, 24, each pressing for the tournament lead.

Herbert had taken the lead, Davis has just sunk his approach on the 12th for eagle to get himself back into contention and Smith had birdied his last two holes.

Davis was the one who went on with it, but Day was given a good look at the fearless future ­generation who will bid to displace him as Australia’s standard-bearer over the next 10 years.

It had all seemed to be going to plan for third-round leader Day when he birdied the opening hole.

History shows him to usually be an excellent frontrunner, ­having won from that situation five times out of the previous six occasions he had put himself in that position.

But yesterday things unravelled in a fashion that suggests he has much work to do if he is to achieve his ambition of regaining the world No 1 ranking next year.

In the next 12 holes Day had three bogeys and that ugly double to fall away from the pointy end, carding a two-over 73 that left him in fifth place at eight-under, three behind the winner Davis.

Day expected better of himself in his first return to Australian shores for four years, as did his countrymen, and he was well aware of that.

“When you hold the lead and when everyone is expecting you to win, there’s a bit of added pressure on top of that as well, so yeah, just a few bounces here and there,’’ Day said.

“I was on the wrong side of ­momentum and if I could just get on the right side of momentum it may have been a different outcome today. Unfortunately, I was just on the other side.

“I think I said yesterday, anything in the 60s you could win, which it would have, so you know, I just didn’t do a good enough job.’’

This result leaves Day without a win this year, the first time he has drawn a blank since 2013, the year he finished second at the US Open.

Day described his year as ­“indifferent’’ and said he needed to now clear his mind and refocus for next year.

“I just haven’t quite put it ­together this whole year and I’m looking forward to getting some time off and trying to decompress a little bit and not even think about golf,’’ he said.

“Because this whole year I’ve been kind of stressing about how I can get better and better and ­better, and unfortunately when you worry about playing good, sometimes you can actually worry about it too much and actually not end up playing good at all.’’

Day will leave it to fellow world top-30 ranked Australians Adam Scott and Marc Leishman to carry the torch against the reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia at this week’s Australian PGA championship at Royal Pines ­Resort on the Gold Coast.

Leishman, ranked just one place behind Day at 13 after ­winning the Arnold Palmer ­Invitational and the BMW ­Championship this year, has said he’s coming home to win.

“I’ve won on most tours around the world except Australasia. It’s a goal of mine, something that’s really missing from my resume,” Leishman said earlier this month.