Jason Day earns first-round win over
McDowell, but hurts himself in process
Australia's Jason Day
(
Getty Images
)
AUSTIN, Texas — Storming back from an early deficit, Jason
Day won his first-round match over Graeme McDowell in the WGC-Dell
Match Play Championship.
It remains to be seen, however, whether he will advance to the next round at Austin Country Club.
LaboUring noticeably as he held a three-hole lead, the world’s second-ranked player grimaced after hitting a wild tee shot at the par-5 16th. He stood straight and reached for his lower back. Gingerly negotiating the grassy slope to get into a bunker and play his second shot, Day showed more pain as he got onto the green with his third and lagged a putt, his fourth shot.
McDowell conceded the next putt, then missed his birdie try as the match ended. Still, the 3 and 2 victory hardly trumped a larger picture — how badly is Day hurt just two weeks before the Masters?
Declining a request to speak with the media, Day immediately went to the fitness trailer for treatment.
More than an hour later, Day went from the trailer into a car driven by his manager, Bud Martin, but again there was no statement.
Day is scheduled to play Thongchai Jaidee Thursday, but in a strange twist to this round-robin affair, the Aussie could actually concede that match and still play Friday against Paul Casey in a bid to win the group.
All in all, curious stuff, and whether he meant to do so or not, David Feherty on The Golf Channel uttered words that had to be going through a lot of minds as Day was shown going to one knee on the 16th green: “It’s ironic, because he’s in such great shape.”
No debating that, yet Day has had a list of health issues that have put him in the news, be it vertigo, a bad wrist, sinus woes, and, yes, the back.
Just days after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his eighth US PGA Tour win and sixth in 14 months, Day appeared to be primed for a chance to win a second consecutive major. And who knows, he might still be, pending the medical guidance he sought immediately after shaking hands with McDowell.
It was a dramatic shift in emotions for Day, who won this Match Play tournament in 2014, only to lose all three games he played in 2015 when he never once got past the 16th hole.
Today the Aussie again didn’t get past the 16th hole — only this time it was on a winning note and a breathless concern.
It remains to be seen, however, whether he will advance to the next round at Austin Country Club.
LaboUring noticeably as he held a three-hole lead, the world’s second-ranked player grimaced after hitting a wild tee shot at the par-5 16th. He stood straight and reached for his lower back. Gingerly negotiating the grassy slope to get into a bunker and play his second shot, Day showed more pain as he got onto the green with his third and lagged a putt, his fourth shot.
McDowell conceded the next putt, then missed his birdie try as the match ended. Still, the 3 and 2 victory hardly trumped a larger picture — how badly is Day hurt just two weeks before the Masters?
Declining a request to speak with the media, Day immediately went to the fitness trailer for treatment.
More than an hour later, Day went from the trailer into a car driven by his manager, Bud Martin, but again there was no statement.
Day is scheduled to play Thongchai Jaidee Thursday, but in a strange twist to this round-robin affair, the Aussie could actually concede that match and still play Friday against Paul Casey in a bid to win the group.
All in all, curious stuff, and whether he meant to do so or not, David Feherty on The Golf Channel uttered words that had to be going through a lot of minds as Day was shown going to one knee on the 16th green: “It’s ironic, because he’s in such great shape.”
No debating that, yet Day has had a list of health issues that have put him in the news, be it vertigo, a bad wrist, sinus woes, and, yes, the back.
Just days after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his eighth US PGA Tour win and sixth in 14 months, Day appeared to be primed for a chance to win a second consecutive major. And who knows, he might still be, pending the medical guidance he sought immediately after shaking hands with McDowell.
It was a dramatic shift in emotions for Day, who won this Match Play tournament in 2014, only to lose all three games he played in 2015 when he never once got past the 16th hole.
Today the Aussie again didn’t get past the 16th hole — only this time it was on a winning note and a breathless concern.
Labels: US PGA
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, March 23, 2016
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