As Jason Day’s long eagle putt rolled down the hill and toward the last hole Friday, every revolution of the ball only added to the sense of inevitability.
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Day spent extra time warming up trying to replicate the wedge shot but was also mindful of the fact he has to return in a few hours to start round two at Conway Farms.
Day, ranked No. 3 in the world, posted the largest 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour this year and set himself up to claim the world No. 1 ranking.
Their expressions said it all about golf’s man of the moment: Day is making everything that matters. Play was suspended because of darkness after the shot, with Europe leading the event 4-2.
He had to hole a 40-metre pitch shot on the 18th from deep rough to complete his first round on Friday – after thunderstorms ended play early on Thursday – to become just the seventh player in US PGA Tour history to card a sub-60 round.
“I … felt like everyone was disappointed in me”, Day said, chuckling.
The Australian is being chased by Americans Brendon Todd (63) and rookie Daniel Berger (64) – both at 13-under.
Day’s finish there definitely made it onto the screen.
If he wins today, Day will overtake current No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who shot 67 and climbed from a tie for ninth to fourth place.
“I was very pleased at the way we fought back – being patient, off to a quiet start, watching Jason just continue to go deeper and deeper under par, missing a couple of short putts”.
It’s down the standings that things will be more tense since the final cut of the four-event playoff pares the field down to 30 for next week’s TOUR Championship, with so numerous players who have been jostling for position learning their fate soon.
Jason Day, of Australia, hits his approach shot from the third… He had committed to play in the season-opening Frys.com Open on October . 15-18 at Silverado in California, but will miss that tournament along with the Bridgestone America’s Golf Cup in Mexico City and his own Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Day had just under three hours before he was scheduled to return to the course for round two, where he hoped to keep the pedal down.
Fellow Australian Matt Jones will need something extra special on Sunday if he is to survive to the 30-man Tour Championship next week after a round of 72 left him at three-under and back in a tie for 41st.
Conversely, the unheralded Piercy’s four-under 67 was one of the best rounds of the day, and it made him Day’s closest competitor along with Berger entering the final round.
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McIlroy, who is now seven strokes behind Day on 13-under, began his round with two birdies at the fourth and eighth.
