Day plays solidly after hectic lead-up
A bit under the weather after catching the bug from his kids, Jason Day didn’t get to Baltusrol Golf Club for the 98th PGA Championship until Tuesday evening, when as the defending champion he hosted the Champions’ Dinner.
Later that night, he had to rush his wife, Ellie, to the hospital after she had an allergic reaction. She is OK, but the world No. 1 said he was running on empty Wednesday morning after a sleepless and hectic night and was limited to playing a swift 18 holes ahead of the final major of the year.
It could turn out to be the perfect prep for Day.
Playing in Thursday morning ’s marquee group alongside No. 4 Rory McIlroy and five-time major winner Phil Mickelson, Day shot a 2-under-par 68 in stifling heat that left him three shots behind pacesetter Jimmy Walker.
“If you practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you could be pretty tired with how hot it was. It was in the mid- to high-90s. You can get drained pretty quickly,” Day said. “I’m glad I took Monday and Tuesday off, even though I’m a little bit under the weather. It was kind of a blessing really to come out yesterday, play 18 holes real quick and then get out of here.”
Day made three birdies to offset his lone bogey on the par-4 fifth hole but didn’t capitalize on many other scoring opportunities. His putter was the culprit — “I didn’t make anything,” he said — and he headed to the practice putting green after talking with the media after his round.
“Got to do a little bit of putting trying to straighten out a few of the little ones,” he said. “I have to try to change the focus, from standing over the ball and thinking about what am I doing, to just getting in there and trying to hole the putt. … I guess I haven’t had the greatest putting display over the last three weeks that I’ve played. I think that shows a little bit in the results.”
Earlier this year, Day was the best player in the world without question. When he won The Players Championship in May, he had three titles this year and was victorious in seven of his last 17 starts. By his standards, the last two months have been a minislump, for he hasn’t won in his last five starts and didn’t post a top-10 in his last two. He could lose his No. 1 billing to Dustin Johnson this week. And he’s none too pleased about not being in contention late on Sunday in any of the first three majors this year.
But while he’s still battling the flu, he felt a lot better leaving Baltusrol on Thursday than he felt arriving.
“For the most part, I feel pretty good about where my head is at and looking forward to the next three days,” Day said. “I hit a lot of good quality shots. Hasn’t been like that lately. To be able to go out there and hit it exactly where I’m going and see the shot and what I need to do and actually execute it was exciting for me. Really positive stuff going into the next three rounds. ...
“I know that the only way to stay at No. 1 or to get to No. 1 is to win tournaments, finish well in big tournaments. If I can keep focusing on the process, all the hard work that I’ve done before to get to this point, that’s where I need to keep my focus at. You have finishes that you don’t like and you just got to keep plugging along, keep moving forward try to win as much as I can. I’ve always said that winning takes care of everything.”