The Aussie could not help but smile.
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“I just need to be a little bit more positive with myself on the course and maybe kind of lower expectations a little bit and just kind of free myself up”.
Day appeared on course for a procession when he gouged a wedge to six feet from thick rough at the first, but he missed the birdie chance and another one went begging from inside 10 feet at the par-five second. He was fighting himself as much, if not more, than he was battling TPC Sawgrass.
“A lot of caddies kept asking, ‘What’s this remind you of?’ ” said James Edmondson, the caddie for Ryan Palmer.
Hideki Matsuyama’s third-round 67 was astonishing, Ken Duke’s 65 touching the realms of remarkable. And he has won seven of his last 17 starts, a scary stretch of domination when you consider that Jordan Spiethand Adam Scott are the only players to win as many as two events during that time frame.
“Poulter had no comment?” He won the 2010 Byron Nelson Championship, in his third season, but through his first six years as a PGA Tour member, that remained his lone victory.
The field averages for Rounds 1 and 2 were 71.015 and 71.112, respectively. In his misery, Day had plenty of company; there were 149 three-putts or worse on an afternoon in which 60 of the 76 players who survived the cut had at least one double bogey or worse on their scorecards. There were 163 rounds under par the opening two rounds, and only six on Saturday. He was a 16-year-old amateur when he featured on the weekend.
Not so long ago, Day didn’t understand as much about grinding it out and keeping a watchful eye on things coming around the corner, because he hadn’t succeeded in these situations. “This was a dry wind that dried these greens down to nothing (like Shinnecock)”.
It was April Fools’ Day in 2007 and he was competing in the final pairing at a tournament called the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship at Wente Vineyards on the Nationwide Tour.
“That was borderline unfair on a few holes, ” Rory McIlroy said.
The victor also earns 600 FedEX Cup points, if they are a PGA Tour member, a 5-year exemption on the PGA Tour, three-year invitation to the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and The Open, so it’s widely recognized. “You can cut greens and get them smooth, but rolling them makes them fast, and they must have rolled them more than any other day”.
” … I’ll get some good work in with Cameron (McCormick, his coach), get my short game sharp and that will take some of the stress off”.
Now the moments of agony were plentiful.
There were 86 double bogeys or worse in total including a five-putt eight from Sergio Garcia and two nines, one from Martin Kaymer and another from Russell Knox. There were some greens where the bottom of the putter would slide across the grass because it was so slick. Kevin Streelman needed four putts from 8 feet – “and it was uphill”, said playing competitor McDowell.
Scott on Sunday called Day’s recent run “Tiger-esque”, and Day spoke of his friendship with the 14-times major champion.
“It’s no coincidence he’s No. 1 in the world”, said Thomas of Sunday’s victor, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). Another double bogey on the eighth hole left Day with only a one shot lead.
Marc Leishman finished with a three-over 75 to be four over.
Which is where the reactions and scores must come in.
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But then he paused, smiled and said, “But those were freakin’ fast, man. The Masters might be like this, but only a couple of times”.
