Jason Day to return from injury at Tiger’s event with GA blessing

GOLF Australia says it has no hard feelings towards Jason Day as he prepares to make his comeback at Tiger Woods’ tournament.

Jason Day was forced out of the Australian Open with a back injury but will be able to play Tiger Woods’ tounament this weekend.

GOLF Australia says it has no hard feelings towards Jason Day as the Queenslander prepares to make his comeback from injury in Tiger Woods’s tournament — only a matter of days after he was originally scheduled to play in the Australian Open.

Day was trumpeted as one of the Open’s big recruits, only to withdraw from the event in late September with a back injury.

However, that injury has now healed and he will make his competitive return in Woods’s event, the Hero World Challenge, which begins later this week in Florida.

Day’s decision to pull out of the Open yet play in Woods’s event prompted some criticism but GA chief executive Steve Pitt said he was comfortable with the way things were handled.

“From our perspective, I guess the key thing is to see him healthy and fit and having a big year next year,” Pitt said.

“We understood he had made a decision back then. Sometimes you have to weigh up a couple of things when you make a decision. The decision to play Tiger’s event, we’re not sure when that happened but I suspect it was a recent event.

“Jason has been pretty good the last few years — he has come back a couple of times, and I think we would very much like to see him here next year.”

Day is coming off a successful year in which he consolidated his position in the world’s top 10. In his absence, young American Jordan Spieth upstaged world No 1 Rory McIlroy and world No 3 Adam Scott to win the Stonehaven Cup at The Australian Golf Club on Sunday. In doing so, he vaulted to No 11 in the world.

Pitt made it clear the Open would do everything possible to have both Spieth and Day in the field next year.

“We would love to get Jason back,” Pitt said. “Our advice to Jason’s manager was we would rather see him win a major next year being really healthy and fully fit, and then coming back and playing in our championship.

“He will do more for Australian golf next year by winning a major, so I think that is the priority for him, to get himself right. We would love to have him back.”

Pitt was keenly anticipating Spieth’s return, and the young American, who will also play in Woods’s event this week, gave every indication he would return to defend his title.

As for McIlroy, Pitt was more circumspect, suggesting GA had some thinking to do when it came to recruiting big names for next year’s event.

No doubt officials will keep a close eye on Woods’s comeback this week.

“Probably too early to think about that right now,” Pitt said of the American superstar.

“There is a lot of water to pass under the bridge. Tiger has proven he is a really popular commodity in global golf. Again, not sure what his schedule will look like in the ­future.

“Our position is we always want to have the best field at the Australian Open on the best courses. For us the challenge will be to make sure we maintain that.

“When the last putt drops you start thinking about the field for next year and you have a range of discussions.”

In terms of McIlroy, who has played the past two Opens, Pitt said they would discuss things with the Northern Irishman once he had a better idea of his schedule next year.

“The first thing is to see what Rory’s scheduled looks like and whether it is a possibility,” Pitt said. “I think he has been enormously popular in the Sydney market. Last year was one of the most incredible things I have seen on a golf course with the support Rory had up against the support Adam had. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see them go head-to-head this year.

“There are two ways to look at it. If you have someone who enjoys the tournament and is incredibly popular with the crowds, there is a really strong argument for keeping that in place.

“Again, we do have to look at Rory’s schedule and factor that in. You always look at players who are always going to really popular in the event. Maybe someone like a Phil Mickelson (who) hasn’t been here in a while.

“We would certainly love to have Jordan Spieth back. Everyone who has come in contact with him has talked about what a terrific fella he is. He is so mature.”