Jason Day determined to put injury and near misses behind him at Augusta

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/05/jason-day-augusta-masters

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For a brief spell not so long ago, there were concerns about the future of Jason Day’s golf career. Nowhere more so, it transpires, than in the Australian’s own mind. A year ago, Day turned up at Augusta National with a recent WGC victory to his name added to a Masters third-place finish in 2013 and lifelong ambition as perfect motivation. There was a key point undermining Day’s hopes though; because of a serious thumb problem, he wasn’t fit to compete.

“It was pretty tough,” he admits. “I had been on some good form at the time and was thinking I was going to kick that on, feeling like I was going to have the year that Rory McIlroy had last year but unfortunately that wasn’t meant to happen.”

The tie for 20th was actually remarkable looking back, and when Day discusses the woes that mothballed him in 2014. The fact he chats so openly about them is insight into a likeable, confident character.

“I came back early from injury just to play Augusta,” Day explains. “I had a chance of getting to No1 in the world if I won the Masters last year so I had two goals in mind; obviously winning at Augusta and becoming the world No1.

“I actually played well but didn’t putt that great and found myself off for another six weeks after that. I came back again, had another six weeks off again. Later in the year I had a bulged disc in my back so it was a struggle.”

It was Day’s thumb, not his back, that provided the significant element of fear. “The thing became, ‘when will I come back?’ or ‘will I ever come back and play?’” he concedes. “I was sitting there for three months out of the year wondering when my thumb was going to heal. I had three cortisone injections in four weeks, it wasn’t getting any better, didn’t feel good, still hurt and it became a strange feeling.

“I was wondering: ‘Is this what is going to take me out of the game?’ I love golf so much, I really enjoy competing out here against all these guys but there were times when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play golf again because of my thumb.”

Day’s back injury in the latter half of the season turned out to be a 12-week “blessing in disguise”. During that downtime he worked through a plan to modify his grip, ensuring a weaker left hand on the club and thereby reducing pressure on his troublesome thumb.

“There was a lot of hyper-extension in my left arm and it was crushing down on the bone,” he says. “We neutralised that and over time it started to feel better and better.

“You can still feel it but it isn’t anywhere near the point where I can’t swing a golf club. Every now and again I will feel it but I can shake it off and walk on. The same applies to my back. I need to keep working hard on my condition, on my core.”

Day has already won this year, via a play-off at the Farmers Insurance Open. Even his attitude to that nods towards 27-year-old maturity. “I feel good this year, I have had the same kind of start as last year and have won again, which is nice,” he says. “The only thing is, you can’t let the great start calm you down and make you feel too comfortable. You have to keep on pushing.”

If a key to winning major championships is tasting what it is like to come up short, Day is worthy of attention in the coming days. The 2013 Masters is remembered for Adam Scott’s triumph, ending an apparent Australian hoodoo at the event, but Day had actually held a one-stroke lead with three holes to play. He was the Masters runner-up in 2011, a position he has also secured twice at the US Open.

The specifics of Augusta play directly into Day’s hands, without even taking into account the compatriot’s motivation derived from Scott’s success. Greg Norman, the best Australian never to don a green jacket, remarked this week that Day is “primed” having “refocused and re-dedicated” himself to golf. It was a necessary switch, by Day’s own admission, after a spell of complacency. Unlike others, Day won’t mask his Augusta ambition.

“That is all I have dreamt about, for a long time; winning that tournament,” Day says of the Masters. “I feel like my game is suited to there. I hit it long and I hit it high. I feel like my short game can produce some good creativity around the greens and I think I’m a pretty good lag putter from long distance on fast greens. I have had some pretty good finishes there but I’m still just looking for that moment where I put the green jacket on.

“I have put in a lot of work to get to where I am right now,” he says. “It just shows that I need to put more in to get to where Rory is. He looks like he has done it pretty easily; there was a run of first or second in eight out of 13 events recently. That’s unbelievable. That’s really what being No1 is all about. You have to be mega consistent, inside the top 10 and top five plus winning every year. If that is what it takes, I have to do something about that and become more of a consistent player.”