Jason Day Wins Playoff Opener
- Dan Hauser
- 31 Aug, 2015
It took Jason Day exactly one start to back up his impressive win at the PGA Championship, winning the Barclays Championship in dominating fashion.
Just two weeks after taking down Jordan Spieth and winning his first major at Whistling Straights, while at the same time shedding the “best to never win a major” mantra, Day was at in again in New Jersey. This time, it was a six shot victory over Henrik Stenson that featured a weekend of rounds of 63 and 62.
Add to that his win at the RBC Canadian Open and his close call at the Open Championship, and it has been an impressive run as of late for the Australian.
“It’s been a special summer for me, and it’s not over,” Day said. “To be able to play the way I did over the weekend is fantastic.”
Day’s week didn’t get off to the best of starts. The injury bug reared it’s ugly head early in the week, forcing Day to withdraw from the Wednesday Pro-Am with a back issue. Even as he played his round Thursday, he seemed to favor his back throughout the morning.
Despite the back issue, he managed to shoot an opening round 68. He backed that up with another 68 on Friday before settling in on the weekend and recording his sixth PGA Tour win and his fourth of 2015.
“I felt like it was my time,” Day said. “Like mentally I felt like, you paid your dues, now it’s time to go out and win tournaments.”
Even Stenson acknowledged after the runner up finish how hot Day has been.
“I think there was only one player out there today,” Stenson said. “I mean, Jason is full of confidence, just heating it up, making birdies. It would have taken something really special to challenge him today the way he’s playing at the moment.”
The win for Day not only adds some intrigue to the Player of the Year conversation, it moves him to number three in the world behind just Rory Mcllroy and Jordan Spieth. Day will also have his first crack at #1 in the world next week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, depending on how Mcllroy and Spieth finish.
“It always is a goal of mine,” Day said. “I can only control what I can control. I can’t control them. Seeing Jordan and Rory are going to play next week, they’ll most likely play well. That means I’ll have to play well, as well, just keep this momentum going.”
There is one ranking where Day already finds himself at the top of, the FedEx Cup Playoffs list. If Day can hold onto that top spot for another month, he will walk away with a $10 million prize.
“Currently ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup, which is fantastic. I’m looking forward to playing at East Lake. There’s three more tournaments I would love to win, and I’d love to win the FedExCup.”
As for that Player of the Year discussion, which certainly heated up with Day’s win this weekend? Day says as of today, he still has some work left to do if he wants to win that too.
“I think winning the FedExCup and maybe one or two more tournaments, that could put my name in the mix for Player of the Year,” Day said. “I’m not sure. I’m going to leave that to the peers, to the people. That will definitely throw my name in the mix.”
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.
