Final-round flop sums up an ‘indifferent’ season for Day
SYDNEY: Former world number one Jason Day felt the final round two-over-par 73 that dashed his hopes of a maiden Australian Open title yesterday pretty much summed up his disappointing 2017 season.
In contention throughout the week on his return to his home Open for the first time in four years, Day started the day with a one-shot lead but finished it in fifth place three shots behind unheralded compatriot Cameron Davis.
“I just didn’t play my best and obviously it’s not great to shoot two-over on the final round when you’ve got the lead,” the world number 12 said. “It’s obviously a little bit disappointing to come out and not finish it.
“But I’ve just got to kind of look back on it and see what I need to do for next time, because you can’t be perfect all the time and I played three terrific rounds actually, the first three rounds, I just didn’t put it together.”
Day’s round turned on his ninth hole, where he hit the lip of a bunker as he tried to get out of the sand and his ball ended up in the water.
“Just a few bounces here and there, obviously the double (bogey) on nine wasn’t the greatest,” he said.
“I was on the wrong side of momentum and if I could just get on the right side of momentum, it may have been a different outcome today.”
The 30-year-old major winner will therefore finish what he described as an “indifferent” year without any sort of title to his name for the first time since 2012.
“I didn’t have the greatest year,” Day said.
“I just didn’t quite have everything clicking. Had everything clicking the first three days here and then today was just a little bit off.
“I just haven’t quite put it together this whole year and I’m looking forward to getting some time off and trying to decompress a little bit and not even think about golf.
“This whole year I’ve been kind of stressing about how I can get better and better and better, and unfortunately when you worry about playing good, sometimes you can actually worry about it too much and force of habit a little bit and actually not end up playing good at all.”
Meanwhile Jordan Spieth will depart Australia after his fourth successive November visit without the Stonehaven Cup but positive about his game after ending a seven-week layoff.
The world number two could not buy a putt for most of the week at The Australian Golf Club and a four-under 67 yesterday was not enough to bridge the gap on the Australian Open leaders.
The 24-year-old completed the unsuccessful defence of the title he won in 2014 and again last year with a flourish, though, when he finally found his range with the putter and nailed a eight-footer for an eagle.
“You know, it happens, you have off putting weeks,” the American said.
“(But) I feel really good about where things are right now, I feel a lot better today than I did after yesterday and the day before, and the day before.
“Today was a better putting day, even though I didn’t make that many birdies. I may have had one bogey and a few birdies and an eagle, but it felt like it could have been something special.”
Spieth had Cameron McCormick on his bag for the tournament as his regular caddie Michael Greller stayed in the US to be with his newborn son and felt that having his coach out on the course with him had been a valuable experience.
“I think it just gives him a little bit more knowledge into the intricacies of a round and how things take shape over four, five hours,” he said.
“I think he has more respect for Michael and how difficult it is to caddy. He said his hips were hurting a lot and just judging the cross winds and trying to be confident in your decisions. He was fantastic though.”
Next up for the Texan is Tiger Woods’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and, although wary of the travel, Spieth thought he was in a good place with his game.
“I feel great,” Spieth, who finished first, joint second and first on his previous three visits Down Under, added.
“The game feels good and having Cam see pretty much all the swings that I hit, and all the putts, I have that kind of extra confidence." – Reuters