Day is regaining his form after tough stretch
Mind cleared and body healed, Jason Day is in good form entering today’s first round of the Memorial Tournament, which has bedeviled the world’s No. 3-ranked golfer despite living in nearby Westerville.
Day, an Australian native and member of Muirfield Village Golf Club, is fresh off his best finish of the PGA Tour season: runnerup at the Byron Nelson Classic two weeks ago. He lost to Billy Horschel on the first playoff hole.
“I’m looking forward to coming out here and trying to change the way that I usually play around here,” Day said. “This has always been one of those tougher stops for me.”
Day has played the Memorial eight times but never finished in the top 25. He tied for 27th last year after shooting a final-round 74.
“It’s not so much the golf course itself, (but) I think it is a little bit of a hectic week when you’re in town and you only live 25 minutes away,” Day said.
Hectic has been a good description of this season for Day, who began the year ranked No. 1 but now trails Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy. Back trouble contributed to Day’s fall from the top ranking, which he held for 47 weeks. A bigger concern for him was the health of his mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in Australia.
“You’re told not to worry about it, but you worry about it,” Day said. “It’s difficult to play with that in the back of your mind, because really I didn’t want to be on the golf course. All I wanted to do was be with my mom. And that’s obviously tough.”
Day’s mother traveled to Columbus for surgery in the spring. Her health has improved, and she’s returned to Australia.
“After the surgery and after my mom went back home, I just felt like I found a little balance,” Day said.
With his mom’s health improved and with his back problem gone, Day’s golf game has improved. The last of his 10 PGA Tour wins came at the 2016 Players Championship, but he showed at the Byron Nelson that he’s on the verge of winning again.
“I just have to singlefocus on playing and getting back to the No. 1 spot,” Day said. “That’s what I want to get back to.”
No notes
Memorial honoree Greg Norman didn’t use a prepared text when he spoke to the crowd at the driving range during the honoree ceremony Wednesday.
“I’m just going to wing it,” Norman said. “Sometimes the best way to do it is speak from the heart.”
Norman spoke for 10 minutes, mostly about his treasured friendship with tournament founder and host Jack Nicklaus, an idol for the honoree from Australia.
Nicklaus had opened the ceremony talking about his friendship with Norman.
“That is what is so uniquely special and beautiful about the game of golf,” Nicklaus said. “We are a brotherhood.”
Second fiddle
Day enjoyed being in the shadow for a change during the pro- am when he teamed with former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, a Nationwide Insurance pitchman, in a foursome.
“It was really, really cool,” Day said “It was actually easy for me. I could walk past the crowd because they didn’t want to see me. They wanted him.”
The group shot 1 over par to finish 13 shots behind the two winning foursomes led by Ryan Moore and William McGirt, the defending Memorial champion.
New leader
Ernie Els is not playing in this year’s Memorial, an annual event for him since 1994. The end of his streak means K.J. Choi’s start today will give him the longest current streak of consecutive Memorial appearances at 17. Nicklaus played in a record 30 straight Memorials from 1976 through 2005.