Australians and golfing fans were celebrating Monday after Jason Day finally picked up his first major championship, with a record-smashing 20-under par at Whistling Straits. “He’s been knocking on the door for quite a while now”. You’ve got to be extremely talented and lucky to win a major so early in your career.
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‘I said to my agent Bud Martin last week I was frustrated with the WGC finish (12th in the Bridgestone Invitational). In the end, Spieth was a mere 4 shots from winning the holy grail of golf; the modern Grand Slam.
Rory had no complaints about handing over his number one spot to Spieth.
His 17-under finish at Whistling Straits pushed his 2015 combined majors performance to 54-under, a record topping the 53-under number Tiger Woods posted in 2000.
Spieth took two majors this year and was in contention in all four. But he rolled in an 8-foot par putt as Spieth made bogey.
“Honestly the way Jordan has been playing and the way I haven’t played much this year – I think that was only my 12th or 13th event – it’s very deservedly so”, said McIlroy, w ho had not played since the US Open in June after rupturing an ankle ligament playing football with friends on July 4. “It’s just good for golf“. “I was one of those guys where I was so close and I wasn’t the last man standing and it was frustrating for me”. He sobbed on the shoulder of Colin Swatton, his caddie and longtime coach who rescued Day as a 12-year-old struggling to overcome the death of his father.
Day also took his highest ever ranking, leaping from fifth to third with his first major championship victory.
The final steps in that journey might have been the most impressive. A month later, he shared another 54-hole at St. Andrews and missed the playoff at the British Open by one shot when he left a 30-foot birdie attempt a foot short.
“I wasn’t going to stop fighting until it was over”, said the 27-year-old, who took home a .8 million prize almost as hefty as the Wanamaker Trophy itself.
“He went about it like a seasoned veteran”.
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Day’s mother Dening said she watched her son’s progress via the PGA website because she was at work but was extremely excited at his long-awaited win. “He proved me wrong. And each time after it came off the face, the hope was lost”. We would put the kettle on and go have a shower, and then my mom would come bring three or four kettles in, just to heat them up. I felt no one was going to stop me today. “And I wouldn’t be challenging myself and trying to better myself if I didn’t have the people that I have in my life today”. And he has no stance over in the bunker and hits a shot to a foot. “Just to be able to finish the way I did was amazing”. “Day’s resounding triumph carried historical weight, too”.
