The personal significance, the professional breakthrough – where to start? Let’s go with the most important aspect of Jason Day’s win. Let’s acknowledge real life trumps sport.
“I was in tears for a little bit there,” Day said after ending his five-year title drought on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
It was exceptional stuff, emotional stuff, his first triumph since his mother, Dening, died from lung cancer last year. It was Mother’s Day in America, and his wife, Ellie, was greenside in Texas with their four kids, pregnant with a fifth. “To think about what my mum went through from 2017 to her passing last year … it was very emotional to go through and to experience what she was going through … this was kind of the first one without her. To have her on my caddie bib, her name on my caddie bib, was special. And then obviously Ellie, the amount of sacrifice she does for me and my career, I can’t thank her enough.”
Day blazed a final round of nine-under-par 62 to finish 23 under and beat South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and American Austin Eckroat by a stroke. Exceptional stuff, emotional stuff. The ex-world No.1 had his first win since 2018. Aged 35, he’d be getting on a bit in most sports. In golf, his best decade could be ahead of him now injuries and illnesses have faded, starting with the first major of the year at the PGA Championship in New York this week.
“To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits,” he said after juggling serious back injuries and the passing of his mum. “I never told my wife that but I was OK with it. Just because it was a very stressful part of my life.
“Ellie, she never gave up on me trying to get back to the winner’s circle again. She was always pushing me to try and get better. It feels strange to be sitting here. I don’t know how else to explain it. To go through what I went through and then to be able to be a winner again is very pleasing. I know there’s been a lot of very hard work behind the scenes that a lot of people haven’t seen. But that’s just the competition part of the journey and trying to strive to get better. It’s nice to be able to get my 13th win.”
Professionally, Day’s worst injury phase was two years ago. “I was just struggling,” he said. “My thought process was to go, ‘OK, what‘s my contract minimum that I have to play? It’s 20 events. Can’t practice Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, really. If I’m playing the pro-am that’s fine, I’ll get through. Get in Thursday, Friday, if I make the cut, great. If I don’t, that’s a tick off the tournament list. To have that mindset, to just to try and get through a tournament because of how much pain I was in, it’s not a healthy way of playing golf. Not a healthy way of living in general. With all the stress, the stuff that was going on personally, it’s just strange all that stuff kind of adds up. It’s nice to be able to feel like I’m on the other side.
“At some point when I was talking to a therapist … I’ve gone through a lot of stuff and you talk to a therapist about it … I kept on visualising myself in the winner’s circle again. It’s nice to be able to sit here today a winner.”
Day won his first American title at the age of 22. His first and only major at the PGA Championship in 2015. American golf writers asked Day what he’d tell the younger version of himself. “Oh, man,” Day replied. “I wish I had the experience I have now. Just to be patient. Golf is a strange sport because you can’t perfect golf. You’re going to have a lot of highs and a lot of lows, probably more lows than highs. It’s very difficult to win on the PGA Tour. It’s very difficult to win a tournament. I think the advice that I’d have to give myself is to be patient, always strive to try get better but it’s mainly about the journey. Just trying to better yourself not only on the golf course but off the golf course … winning is a great thing … but the people around you are the most important thing at the end of the day.”
Locking in the win with a career-low round 🔥 @JDayGolf tied his previous best on Sunday @ATTByronNelsonpic.twitter.com/Y7MG4F39oY
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2023
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