Joy of Golf: Dedication and honesty are Jason Day’s best qualities

Joy Chakravarty 08:25 24/09/2015
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  • Jason Day is one of the most loved players on the Tour.

    One of my favourite things to do is dig up past press conference transcripts. They are a great source of information. What I like to see is how a player has changed over the years. The way he answered questions back then can reveal so much about him.

    Jason Day, golf’s man of the moment, is an extremely interesting case study. His first press conference on the PGA Tour was at the Buick Invitational in January 2008, which was his first month on the big stage after graduating from the Web.com Tour. And there are several nuggets in it that show why he is one of the most loved players on the Tour.

    – VIDEO: Team USA secure Solheim Cup win
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    In reply to the first question asked, which was to sum up his previous year, the Aussie openly spoke about breaking up with his longtime girlfriend, and how it affected him mentally.

    When asked about his background, Day did not hesitate in explaining how tough it was growing up and how he fell into bad habits (street fights, underage drinking) before golf rescued him.

    He was categorical in stating that he wanted to become the world No1. “If I stay with my goals, if I work hard towards what I want to achieve, then hopefully one day I can be No1,” he said.

    It took him a little more than seven years to achieve that dream, but he did it.

    It was also very clear how much respect he had for his coach, caddie and father figure, Colin Swatton. When a journalist pointed out Day kept referring to ‘we’ in answering questions about his golf, he replied: “We’ve been together for eight years. He’s been coaching me since I was 12. That just surprises me actually when you said ‘we’ because I didn’t think of that as a team. We’re a team, but I thought I was just saying ‘I’, but obviously I’m saying ‘we’.”

    The respect still remains as that partnership is now into its 15th year and going strong.

    On a separate note, it really will be interesting to see how the players vote for the Player of the Year. Is it going to be Day, or Spieth? Will they give more weight to a season that included two majors and two regular Tour events, or will they favour one major and four Tour titles?

    I have a feeling that for once, the FedEx $10 million cheque will become the determining factor. Otherwise, there really isn’t much to differentiate between the two.

    Anirban’s annus mirabilis
    What a year it has been for the young Indian. By securing his PGA Tour card, he has now ticked every goal he had set for himself in 2015.

    The PGA Tour card, which came through the circuitous route of the Web.com Tour Finals, was really a bonus. His biggest goal was to move into the top-50 of the world rankings and get to play all the majors and the WGC Championships, and that was achieved in a whirlwind period of 14 days in February when he won the Malaysian and the Indian Open titles on the European Tour.

    He wanted to play well in the majors. He made the cut in three and finished brilliantly for a tied fifth place at the PGA Championship. He wanted to make it to the Presidents Cup team, and he did it pretty comfortably in the end, finishing seventh in the list of 10 players who qualified automatically.

    Driven: Anirban Lahiri.

    The idea behind signing up late for the Web.com Tour Final was simple. As a non-member, he could only get invitations to four regular PGA Tour events, apart from the four majors and four WGCs. Anirban wanted more starts in American soil, and that was possible only if he had a status on the PGA Tour.

    The job was clear cut. He needed to finish inside the top-25 of the money list of the final four events of the Web.com Tour Finals. It’s just that he made it more challenging for himself by opting not to play the fourth event and take a week’s break before the Presidents Cup.

    Well…the immense self-belief he has right now is evident as he made enough money ($49,750) in just the first two starts (tied sixth and tied 16th) that he has now pulled out of the third week to enjoy a longer break and be fresh for the battle against the US in Incheon.

    Quote of the Week
    “I looked up at the board and all I saw was 13 and a half. I’m like, this is it, it’s all on me. This is do or die, this is what you practice for, this is like once in a lifetime deal right here. Julihas been talking about playing for the girl in front of you and behind you. I just dug deep. And I really wanted to make that for my team.” – USA’s Gerina Piller on the 10-footer she needed to make on the 18th hole against Caroline Masson to deny the half point to Europe that would have taken them to 14 points and retain the Solheim Cup.

    Stats of the Week
    -101
    – Jason Day’s score in his last seven tournaments
    6.42 – million dollars, won by Day in his last seven starts
    229,485 – dollars, money won by Day for each of last 28 rounds.

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