Jason Day admitted his status as golf’s new world number one had not yet sunk in after he clinched top spot by winning the BMW Championship in Chicago on Sunday.
The US PGA Championship winner succeeded Rory McIlroy at the top of the rankings after a final round of 69 earned him a six-shot victory at Conway Farms.
Being his sport’s top player is an experience that Day could come to be comfortable with, but hitting the summit for the first time had him struggling to explain his emotions.
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“I’m not really thinking about it right now. It doesn’t feel real,” he told Sky Sports. “Knowing the Shark (Norman) spent 331 weeks up the top of the world ranking list – a very long time – and next week’s going to be my first week.
“It’s been very, very difficult for me to try and downplay getting to number one, because I’ve really wanted to reach this goal for a long time now.”
Day, having recorded scores of 61, 63 and 69 in his first three rounds, finished on 22 under par after carding three birdies and a bogey on Sunday with nearest challenger, American Daniel Berger, only managing to equal his two-under-par final-round effort.
The 27-year-old Australian added: “I feel good. Just all the work ever since I was a little kid trying to get to number one in the world and today I did it, which was great.
“To have an opportunity, knowing I had to win this week to gain that spot, and stepping up and doing it was fantastic.
“The mentality swung at The Open Championship. Something changed in my head, and I thought it’s my time to start winning tournaments.
“For our whole team lately its all been about reaching number one.
“I felt a lot of pressure over the last few days. Yesterday and today had to be the toughest rounds of golf I had to play in my entire life.
“Tomorrow I am going to become the number one player in the world. It has been an amazing ride.”
Day begins his reign at the summit by playing at The Tour Championship, starting on Thursday, and the Queenslander is in the driving seat to scoop the FedEx Cup.
“I’m going to take Monday and Tuesday off,” he said. “I’m going to go home (to Westerville, Ohio) and then I’ll fly down to Atlanta on Tuesday night. Try to get as much rest as possible. The last two days have been very stressful for me.
“Emotionally it’s been very up and down inside. I may not show it but inside I’m going up and down.
“I’ve got to try to reset everything. I’ve got to get into next week and try to win the FedEx Cup.”
Berger could have been closer to Day having registered five birdies on Sunday but, unfortunately for the 22-year-old, they were accompanied by three bogeys in a topsy-turvy round.
Scott Piercy made birdie at the final hole to clinch third at 15 under and JB Holmes, Rickie Fowler and McIlroy were tied for fourth one further shot adrift.
McIlroy had two birdies, two pars, an eagle and a bogey in his final six holes. He drew one of the biggest cheers of the day by draining a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
Jordan Spieth moved to No3 in the rankings after tying for the 13th place, 11 shots behind Day.
