Family first
Jason Day tried, and gamely, no doubt obliged to enunciate the reason for his sudden withdrawal from his first-round set-to at the Match Play Invitational yesterday. His mother was ailing, he said, diagnosed with lung cancer at the turn of the year and gi
It was not a pretty sight, not for members of the media in the interview room, and not for countless others watching Jason Day pour his heart out on television. Still, he tried, and gamely, no doubt obliged to enunciate the reason for his sudden withdrawal from his first-round set-to at the Match Play Invitational yesterday. His mother was ailing, he said, diagnosed with lung cancer at the turn of the year and given just months to live. After he gave his explanation, he took no questions and left, finding comfort in the arms of his wife. That Day was even at the Austin Country Club in Texas to participate in the second stop of the World Golf Championships rota speaks of his difficulty grappling with the news. Considering that immersion in the sport was how he dealt with the loss of his father — also due to the Big C — back when he was 12, he was, perhaps, moved to do the same anew; he must have thought he would be distracted by his focus on winning the tournament. Just the other day, he talked about his intent to defend his title, believing that the momentum would carry him towards doing well at the Masters next month. Clearly, though, the opposite happened; overwhelmed with grief, he lost three of the six holes he managed to complete, and while there were 12 more to negotiate, not to mention two more matches in his schedule, he felt it best to withdraw from the event.
Significantly, Day made sure to emphasize that he was in the pink of health, and that his fitness — or, to be more precise, physical fitness — had nothing to do with his abrupt departure. If nothing else, it bodes well for his capacity to return to action promptly; once he gets his bearings back, he’ll be prepping for his anticipated trek to Augusta National, precisely what his mother wants him to do.
For Day, life will go on. In the meantime, life has beckoned him to take stock of what he has. “Family is first,” he said. Which is why he won’t be around through the weekend. And also why he’ll be back as soon as he can.