Chalk rough Day up to vital experience
Aussie’s poor shot choice ridiculed, but did he actually make the right move?
I CAN’T stop thinking about Jason Day’s quadruple bogey at the US PGA Championships this week.
Golf legend Nick Faldo called him crazy. Others said they wished they could have “slapped him”. He was ridiculed, pilloried and, in the modern vernacular, “memed” for his shot choice.
In a digital age full of easily digestible morsels of content, the footage of Day’s final hole capitulation in the third round will live on forever.
Watching him play the 18th at Quail Hollow in Charlotte is like witnessing someone go through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression then ultimately, albeit begrudgingly, acceptance.
After hooking the ball off the tee and into the crowd, Day went for broke. He attempted to go for the green from behind a tree and give himself a chance of winning the US PGA Championship. It would have been a hell of a shot.
Instead, he broke his club, cannoned the ball into a tree, ended up in the shrubs and had to take a penalty drop, crippling his chances of taking out the Championship.
In doing so, Day emulated the feats of fictional character Roy McAvoy, immortalised on the silver screen by Kevin Costner in Tin Cup.
In that movie, McAvoy, a stubborn, bone lazy golf prodigy, on the brink of winning a major, refuses to take anyone’s advice and lay-up a ball on the final hole. As a result, he – like Day – loses. But does he, really?
After play, Day was adamant that he’d do the same thing again and more so that he could make the shot.
“I was trying to hit a low hook and I slipped a little bit. Nine times out of 10, I’ve got that shot,” he said.
The Australian is currently the seventh best golfer in the world, in an era where many of his contemporaries are alltime greats. If he’s going to catch them, he needs to take the occasional risk and pull off the odd amazing shot, especially if he wants to add to his 10 PGA tour wins.
The absolute worst possible result, he had reasoned, was that he’d fail, people would laugh and he’d get on to the next round.
Having factored in the repercussions, Day wasn’t afraid to fail. Perhaps he has more in common with another fictional golf character – Happy Gilmore. Gilmore had to overcome his fears to succeed too. It’s why next time Day may just pull off the impossible.
Then again, even if he doesn’t, I don’t think he’ll give two hoots what you, I, or anybody else thinks anyway.
WATCHING DAY PLAY THE 18TH AT QUAIL HOLLOW IN CHARLOTTE IS LIKE WITNESSING SOMEONE GO THROUGH THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF...