PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – For a few days now, Jason Day has been able to put his dark days of pain and injury and a possible career change behind him.
He typically doesn’t play practice rounds ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but with the weather stunning and his body feeling fine, Day played two practice rounds at Spyglass and another at Pebble Beach.
Then he shot 67 at Monterey Peninsula in the first round and devoured sun-lit Pebble Beach with a 64 Friday to move within two shots of leader Nick Taylor, who is at 14 under. Five-time Pebble Beach winner Phil Mickelson is 11 under.
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel is at 10 under. Two-time Pebble champion Dustin Johnson is lurking at 9 under.
It’s a familiar position for Day, who has four top-5 finishes in the past five years in the event formerly known as Bing Crosby’s Clambake.
“I don’t know why I play well here,” he said. “I would like to change having the top-fives. I would like to win. I love everything about Pebble and the landscape that all three golf courses are on. I enjoy going to Carmel. The people are great up here, so I really enjoy my time every time I come back here.”
Last year he didn’t know if he’d play here again, let alone anywhere else. Hurt all of 2019, Day, a former world No. 1 with 12 PGA Tour wins, including the 2015 PGA Championship, was thinking the time to put away the clubs was near despite being just 32. Chronic back pain and an assortment of injuries forced him to miss events, including the Presidents Cup in his native Australia.
“I’ve talked to my wife about this a lot. I’m like, I think I’m nearly done here, just because of how much pain I was in,” said Day, who is ranked No. 46 and is winless since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. “I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been out there and felt the way that I felt out there today and played well like that.
“It’s hard because you compete week-in and week-out and you expect so much of yourself, and everyone does, but sometimes when you’re injured, like for the most part I was all last year, it gets frustrating. … And you feel like your world is kind of crumbling around yourself, especially as an athlete who plays injured. And it’s not a good feeling because there’s some dark moments in there that you got to kind of fight through.”
Day has played just once in 2020 – a tie for 16th in the Farmers Insurance Open. He’s spent the rest of the year resolute to rehabbing his injuries. He’s been forced to cut his daily training in half, which in turn has made him increase his level of concentration with exercise in the gym and on the practice range and putting green.
One exercise is blowing up balloons for 30 minutes. He said it facilitates abdominal muscle activation, which strengthens his core.
“If I stood with my shirt off, my rib cage always faces right,” Day said. “So I’m trying, through balloons, blowing into them, I’m trying to hold a certain position and get my rib cage back into position. Through blowing up a balloon it actually pressurizes everything for you.”
Day said he’s embarrassed to do that, seeing as no one else is blowing up balloons. But he’ll do what it takes to keep playing. And it’s working.
“I’ve been very blessed to be able to play this many years out here, so I’m trying to be as disciplined as I can to extend my career for even longer because I actually really enjoy this game,” said Day, who turned pro in 2006. “I love this game. It’s given me so much.”
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