Day conquers his demons and wins
TARGET: FORMER WORLD NO 1 AIMS TO RECLAIM TOP SPOT
Australian pulled himself together after blowing big lead.
Former world No 1 Jason Day has a burning ambition to get back to the top of the rankings and he made a huge leap with a two-stroke victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday.
Day had an awful day of wayward driving and blew a threeshot lead on the back nine with consecutive bogeys, before rising to the occasion and hitting one of the best clutch shots of his life.
After a birdie at the par-four 16th, he took aim at the par-three 17th with a seven-iron from 230 yards and launched his ball 142 feet, as high as a 14-storey building, into the air.
It landed some 40 feet short of the pin and finally clattered against the bottom of the flagstick on the fifth bounce.
Day was unlucky not to make a hole-in-one, but the stick also saved his ball from rolling off the back of the green.
“When I hit it, it was on a cracking line, it was beautiful,” the Australian told reporters after securing his 12th PGA Tour victory.
“And then it just had this massive bounce, hit on the downslope and fortunately hit the pin and went to about two or three feet.
“Things like that is what you need to win golf tournaments.”
The ensuing birdie restored Day’s two-shot lead and he parred the last to shoot 68 and finish at 12-under 272, two strokes ahead of Americans Aaron Wise (68) and Nick Watney (69) at Quail Hollow.
Day rated the victory one of the best of his career, not because of the quality of his play but more due to his ability to get the job done without his best game.
“I was fighting demons out there because when you’re not hitting it good, it just feels like the life is getting sucked out of you,” he said.
“I had no idea where the ball was going. I had no confidence in my ability I was just trying to keep it inside the tree line.” –