Day hasn’t had much time on home course
Muirfield Village Golf Club member Jason Day said yesterday that he had played all of two rounds on his home course leading up to this week’s Memorial Tournament.
For the Australian-born Westerville resident and the world’s 10th-ranked player, that’s a very good thing, even if some iffy springtime weather has kept him indoors on days he would have otherwise spent on his home track.
“And I’ve been on the road so much,” he said after a nine-hole practice round.
But it is not certain that Day will begin his seventh Memorial in sharper shape than his sixth, when he arrived back at Muirfield having not played a single tournament since the Masters because of a thumb injury.
Day withdrew from last week’s Byron Nelson Championship before the start of the tournament because of a recurrence of dizziness that has plagued him throughout his career.
Day told the Australian Associated Press that he is still “not 100 percent” and that his expectations for this week “aren’t superhigh.”
“But it’s all getting better now,” he told The Dispatch. “I’ve just been dealing with some stuff that’s going on with the body. I’m looking forward to this week.”
Except for his 3-1-1 record during the 2013 Presidents Cup, Day has never excelled at his home course. His best finish at the Memorial is a tie for 27th in 2009. He tied for 37th last year.
Yet his returns to Muirfield are enjoyable.
His routine includes plenty of time spent with friends and family, including his wife, Ellie, a Mansfield native, and buddy Brandon Dubinsky, the Blue Jackets center.
Good friend James Wisniewski, a former Blue Jacket who is also a Muirfield Village member, will arrive on Friday.
Day will be paired on Thursday and Friday with Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed. serves as the face of the Memorial, it was announced on Monday that Stricker will play a similar role at the new American Family Insurance Championship at the University of Wisconsin University Ridge course next June.
“We’re all very excited to be bringing professional golf on a yearly basis back to Wisconsin,” said Stricker, a 12-time PGA Tour winner from Edgerton, Wis.
Stricker, 48, will be too young to play in the inaugural event. But the 2011 Memorial winner said he doesn’t necessarily see himself as a senior-circuit regular once he turns 50.
“I think I’ve got an exempt status out here until (I’m) 52 or somewhere around there, so I think it would be fun to play some out here (on the PGA Tour) in some of the events that I’ve had some success at or enjoy,” Stricker said.