Day right for match play return
Jason Day is raring to start his quest for a third World Golf Championships Match Play title one year after an emotional withdrawal from his pet event.
Day (pictured) arrived at the 2017 edition as defending champion but forfeited six holes into his opening match at the Austin Country Club.
Minutes later, the Queenslander attended a tearful press conference where he revealed his mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
With his first three starts of 2018 featuring a win at Torrey Pines and a runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, Day has been seeded eighth at the elite 64man event in Texas.
He will face Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Dufner and James Hahn in pool matches.
Day will no doubt draw on the memories of defeating Oosthuizen 5-and-4 in the 2016 WGC Match Play final.
“I’m really looking forward to coming up against Louis again,” Day said.
“We had a lot of fun in the 2016 final and we’re Presidents Cup teammates.
“It’s going to be a tough group and I’m going to have to play three really good matches.”
Day, who also won the 2014 edition in extra holes, said he loves the head-to-head combat of match play, where his ranking as the US Tour’s No.1 putter is a valued weapon.
“Match play is one of my favourite formats, I absolutely love playing it,” Day said.
Fellow Australian Marc Leishman, also a top-16 seed, has drawn South Africa’s Branden Grace as well as two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson and American Julian Suri.
Cameron Smith will be pitted against Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay and Matsuyama’s countryman Yusaku Miyazato.