After a disappointing tie for 28th behind Spieth in the Masters, Day was back in contention at the US Open at Chambers Bay. He was then four ahead of his playing partner Spieth with four shots to play. Might as well tip his cap.
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Day’s game did look easy as he was able to bring Whistling Straits to its knees by shooting a Major tournament record 20 under par.
Day began the final afternoon with a two-shot advantage over Spieth.
“I don’t think anybody would have caught him this week”, said the South African, who was even with Rose until the Englishman bogeyed 18 to fall to fourth with a 70 for 274.
Spieth started the day trailing Day by two and ended up losing by three.
It had less to do with earning his first major and more with coming to grips with his past, ESPN.com’s Ian O’Connor wrote.
As he approached the 72nd hole – at 20-under with a three-shot lead, Day told himself “don’t double bogey”. That’s Spieth’s consolation. And really, he had plenty of that as he left Whistling Straits. “Certainly it was a life-long goal of mine, and that was accomplished today”. I’ll always be a number one player in the world. Day has also dealt with some scary bouts of vertigo, including one that caused him to collapse to the ground during the U.S. Open this year. “So, I mean, it’s good to be a major champion”.
At the U.S. Open in June, he fell while walking during the second round.
Could he have made a few more putts?
Could he have changed the result? “That’s very hard to do at a major championship”. “We did what we could and it wasn’t enough because Jason just played that good“. “It’s going to be a lot of fun over the next five to 10 years”.
“My mom took a second mortgage out on the house, borrowed money from my aunt and uncle, just to get me away from where I was to go to school, 7 hours drive”, said Day. He kept the pressure on Day through the back nine, with birdies on the 10th, 13th and 16th, but couldn’t make up the difference and finished with a 68 on the day, 17-under for the tournament. At that point, Spieth said “hope was lost”. In his third round, he missed a four-foot putt for eagle on 11 for a share of the lead.
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Day caused a stir in his rookie season in 2007 when he said he could one day “take down” Tiger Woods, but although Woods is now 286th in the rankings, the 27-year-old still wants to become world number one. The PGA runner-up wouldn’t be surprised. The difference is that Woods won two majors by a combined 23 shots.
