Jason Day

Day was introduced to golf by his father, who passed away when Jason was 12. The Aussie enjoyed plenty of success at the amateur level, highlighted by his win at the 2006 Australian Amateur Stroke-Play Championship. His decorated amateur career also included titles at the Australian Junior Championship, World Junior Championship, Queensland Amateur Championship, and the Queensland Medal Championship. He played on the PGA Tour of Australasia in 2004 and 2005.
A key to Day's long-term success was attending The Kooralbyn International School (TKIS) in Queensland. On his first day at Kooralbyn, he met Colin Swatton, who was the school's golf coach. Eventually, a bond developed, and Swatton became a father figure and mentor. He also helped Day develop his swing and game. When Day came to America and won on the Korn Ferry Tour, he called and convinced Swatton to join him in America as his swing coach and his caddie and traveling companion. Swatton caddied for Day until 2017 and was his swing coach until July of 2020.
Day has played in four Presidents Cup matches: 2011, '13, '15 & '17.
He made seven starts on the PGA Tour in 2006, with strong showings at the Reno-Tahoe Open (T-11th) and U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Wis. (T-13th).
He played on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2007, finishing 5th on the money list. At the time, Day's victory at the Legend Financial Group Classic made him the youngest player to win a Korn Ferry Tour-sanctioned event. At 19 years, 7 months, 26 days, he surpassed the previous youngest players to win on the two Tours, including Johnny McDermott's (19 years, 10 months) win in the 1911 U.S. Open and James Oh's (21 years, 5 months, 27 days) victory in the 2003 Mark Christopher Charity Classic. Later that year, Day shot 62-63 in the last two rounds of the Xerox Classic, equaling the Korn Ferry Tour record for a 36-hole total.
2007 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 19; Rounds Played - 66; In Money - 14; Top-10 Finishes - 7; Scoring Average - 70.03 (rank 9th); Money - $331,542 (rank 5th); Best Finish - 1st, Legend Financial Group Classic.
Claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship. He was runner-up at the 2011 Masters and U.S. Open, ending 2011 in 12th place in the FedExCup standings and 9th on the money list.
2012 Notes: An ankle injury caused him to withdraw from the Masters and take a month off. He and his wife, Ellie, had their first son in July of that year. He recorded four top-10s in 17 starts, finished 88th on the money list with earnings of $1,143,233, and played the first two FedExCup playoff events, finishing 87th.
2013 Notes: Day was defeated in the WGC-Accenture Match Play semifinals by eventual winner Matt Kuchar and finished 3rd. He also recorded a 3rd-place result at the Masters, where he led after 36 holes and finished two strokes out of a playoff. At the U.S. Open, he finished T-2nd, two strokes behind winner Justin Rose. Day had a T-32nd result at the British Open and a T-8th at the PGA Championship. He finished the year 17th in the FedExCup standings and 12th on the money list. He had a strong performance in his second Presidents Cup appearance, posting a 3-1-1 record in the International team's loss to the U.S. Days before playing at the ISPS Handa World Cup in November, Day learned that eight of his relatives died in Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, including his grandmother, uncle and six cousins. Despite the tragedy, he finished at 10 under par to earn a two-stroke win in the individual competition at Royal Melbourne G.C. in Australia. He teamed with Adam Scott to shoot a combined 17 under par to win Australia's team competition.
2014 Notes: Day started the year finishing in a five-way T-2nd result at the Farmers Insurance Open, one stroke behind Scott Stallings. He then won the Accenture Match Play Championship, defeating France's Victor Dubuisson with a par at the 23rd hole (fifth extra playoff hole) in the championship match at The G.C. at Dove Mountain. At 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, he became the youngest winner of the Accenture Match Play, a distinction previously held by Tiger Woods (27 years, 2 months, 2 days in 2003). Day also became only the second Australian winner of the event, joining Geoff Ogilvy (2006 and 2009). Two weeks later, he was forced to withdraw before the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship and then the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to a left thumb injury. He returned to play at the Masters (T-20th), then took more time off, not playing again until The Memorial (T-37th). At the British Open, he finished T-58th, then withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone. He finished T-15th at the PGA Championship, T-2nd at The Barclays, and T-7th at the Deutsche Bank before withdrawing from the BMW Championship with a back injury. He returned to play in the Tour Championship and finished T-4th. He ended the year 10th in the FedExCup standings and 16th on the money list.
2015 Notes: In his first start of the year, Day shot a final-round 62 and finished T-3rd at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. At the Farmers Insurance Open, he tied for the lead at the end of the final round and defeated defending champion Scott Stallings, Harris English, and J.B. Holmes in a two-hole playoff. He finished T-4th at the AT&T Pebble Beach the following week, posted another T-4th at the Zurich Classic, and finished T-28th at the Masters. During the second round at the U.S. Open, he collapsed on the final hole of the day but was able to finish. He was diagnosed with benign positional vertigo. Nevertheless, in the final round, he found himself in the final pairing with Dustin Johnson, one of four co-leaders. Day shot a closing four-over-par 74 and placed T-9th, five strokes behind champion Jordan Spieth, his fourth top-ten in five U.S. Open starts. Finally posted his first top-25 finish at the British Open, where he finished T-4th after his birdie putt at the 72nd hole that would have put him into the playoff stopped short of the hole. The next week, he birdied his final three holes for a one-shot win at the RBC Canadian Open, the first time he had won multiple times in a year. Three weeks later, he added his first major win at the PGA Championship, where he shot 68-67-66-67 for a 268, then the second-lowest total score in major history, and made him the first player to finish a major at 20 under par. He finished three shots better than Jordan Spieth. Won two FedExCup Playoff events, The Barclays and the BMW Championship. Was 2nd in the final FedExCup standings and on the money list. Ended the year playing in his third Presidents Cup, where he posted an 0-4-1 record.
2016 Notes: Took time off after the 2015 Presidents Cup. His wife, Ellie, gave birth to the couple's second child in November. He played his first event of the year at the Farmers, where he missed the cut. Finished T-11th at the AT&T Pebble Beach, T-23rd at the WGC-Cadillac, and then won the Arnold Palmer, his first win in Florida. A week later at the WGC-Dell Match Play, Day won seven matches, including a 5 & 4 win over Louis Oosthuizen in the final. The victory gave Day the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. It was his second Match Play win in three years, and he passed the $30-million mark in career earnings. Finished T-10th at the Masters, followed by a T-23rd at the Heritage and T-5th at the Zurich Classic. Claimed his seventh victory in a 17-month stretch and 10th title on the PGA Tour with a four-stroke win at The Players Championship. With a nine-under-par 63 in the opening round, he joined Fred Couples (1992), Greg Norman (1994), Roberto Castro (2013) and Martin Kaymer (2014) as course record holders. Colt Knost joined the group with a 63 in the second round. Day was bogey-free, shooting 63-66 - 129 (-15) to set the 36-hole tournament record and gain a four-stroke margin through 36 holes (also a tournament record). Marked the first time in his career, he went bogey-free over his first 36 holes at any PGA Tour event. Was the first wire-to-wire winner of The Players since Hal Sutton in 2000. Joined Tiger Woods (2001, '13) and Greg Norman (1994) as the only players to win The Players while ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Finished T-8th at the U.S. Open. At the WGC-Bridgestone, Day led going into the final round. He reached seven under par to lead in the final round before a bogey at 15, a double bogey at 16, and a bogey at 18 dropped him into a T-3rd. His final-round 72 ended a streak of converting five consecutive 54-hole leads/co-leads into victories. Dropped from 1st to 2nd behind Dustin Johnson in the FedExCup standings after holding the No. 1 position for seven weeks. Finished T-22nd at the British Open, then T-14th in defense of his RBC Canadian Open title. At his title defense at the PGA Championship, Day finished runner-up to Jimmy Walker. Ended the week by hitting his second shot at the par-5 18th from 258 yards to 13 feet, then making the putt for eagle, moving him to 13-under 267 and within one of Walker, who was back in the fairway at 18. Finished T-4th with Gary Woodland and Adam Scott in his title defense at The Barclays. With 68-70-70-69, he was the only player in the field with four under-par rounds. After entering the week ranked 1st, dropped to 2nd in the FedExCup standings behind Barclays winner Patrick Reed. In his title defense at the BMW Championship, he withdrew after eight holes in the final round with a back injury. Dropped from 2nd to 4th in the FedExCup standings. In his next start, he withdrew from the Tour Championship after eight holes in the second round due to his back injury. Finished 6th in the FedExCup standings, marking his third consecutive top-10 finish and fourth overall in the FedExCup. That would be the last time Day played until Maui in January 2017.
2017 Notes: After taking three months off to rest his back, Day returned at the SBS Tournament of Champions and finished T-12th. With a final-round 67, he finished T-5th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Lost the world No. 1 ranking at the Genesis Open after a Dustin Johnson win (Day finished T-64th at Riviera CC). Finished T-23rd in his title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The next week at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship, he conceded his first match against Pat Perez after the sixth hole. In a tearful press conference, he announced that his mother Dening was stricken with lung cancer and had surgery two days later to remove a malignant mass from her lung. Two weeks before the Masters, it was unclear when Day would return. He played in the Masters and finished T-22nd. He had his best finish of the year at the AT&T Byron Nelson, a T-2nd when he missed a short par putt on the first extra hole of a playoff with Billy Horschel. Was T-15th at the Memorial but struggled to miss the cut at the U.S. Open and Travelers, then was T-27th at the British Open and T-9th at the PGA Championship. Played in all FedExCup playoff events. His top-10s were T-6th at the Northern Trust and 4th at the BMW Championship. Finished 18th in the final FedExCup standings, his worst ranking since 2012. Before the BMW, he replaced his longtime caddie, Colin Swatton. He brought a friend from home, Luke Reardon, who was his roommate at the Hills International College in Australia, to caddie for him. Went 1-3-1 in his fourth consecutive appearance for the International Team at the Presidents Cup. Ended the year 5th at the Emirates Australian Open.
2018 Notes: Played 20 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts. Had five top-10s with two wins and a runner-up. Was 16th in the final FedExCup standings. Started the calendar year by winning the Farmers Insurance Open for the second time. Defeated Alex Noren in a six-hole playoff that was extended to the next day. Both of his Farmers' wins have come in playoffs. In his next start, he finished T-2nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Won for the second time at the Wells Fargo Championship, marking his third multiple-win season on the PGA Tour. Converted a two-shot, 54-hole lead to a two-shot victory over Aaron Wise and Nick Watney. Finished T-5th at The Players Championship and T-10th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with six top-10 finishes. Started the year T-5th at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, next week T-11th at the WGC-HSBC Champions. Finished T-5th at the Farmers Insurance Open and T-4th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Was forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he was sore after a hard practice session. After an MRI revealed a tear in his L4-L5 discs, he had four injections and rested. Played the next week at The Players Championship, shooting 70-66-68-72 to finish T-8th. Afterward, Day missed the cut at the Valspar Championship and lost all three of his matches at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship. At the Masters, shot 70-67-73-67 to finish T-5th, just two strokes behind winner Tiger Woods. At the U.S. Open, he hired New Zealand caddie Stevie Williams, who had caddied for Tiger Woods and Adam Scott. Placed T-21st at the Pebble Beach. His next start was T-8th at the Travelers Championship. Ended the year playing in two FedExCup playoff events, missing the cut at the Northern Trust and finishing T-52nd at the BMW Championship. He was 54th in the FedExCup standings. Day was supposed to play in the Australian Open and the Presidents Cup but withdrew due to back problems.
2020 Notes: Played in 17 PGA Tour events, making 10 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Was 57th in the FedExCup standings. After playing in the Zozo Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic, Day took time off to rest his back and he withdrew from the Presidents Cup. Played at the Farmers Insurance and finished T-16th, and in his next start at the AT&T Pebble Beach, he was three strokes off the lead going into the final round, but shot 75 and finished 4th. Day missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational and didn't play in the WGC-Mexico Championship. Tried to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. After an opening-round 74, he played four holes in the second round before had to withdraw due to back pain. Returned after the COVID-19 break at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he missed the cut. Was T-7th at the Workday Charity Open and T-4th at the Memorial, five strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. In a surprise move, Day announced before the start of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational that he had parted ways with his longtime swing teacher Colin Swatton. The pair had probably one of the longest relationships on the PGA Tour. They had been together for 20 years since they met the first day that Jason attended a boarding school when he was 12 years old. When Day came to America and won on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2007, he called and convinced Swatton to join him in America as his swing coach, caddie, and traveling companion. In 2017, Swatton stepped away from the bag and just became his instructor. For now, Day said he wants to work on his own as it pertains to his swing and game. At the start of 2020, he brought in his close friend Luke Reardon as his full-time caddie. Was T-6th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, four strokes behind winner Justin Thomas. The next week, finished T-4th at the PGA Championship, three strokes behind winner Collin Morikawa. It was his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. He opened with a 65 to lead but finished with rounds of 69-70-66. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust and was 64th at the BMW Championship.
2021 Notes: Found himself in contention going into the final round of the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek, but his back stiffened up and he had to withdraw. His next start was T-60th at the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood. At the Vivint Houston Open, was a shot back going into the final round and played in the final group. Shot 71 to finish T-7th, six shots back of winner Carlos Ortiz. Was T-7th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, five shots back of winner Daniel Berger.