GO FORE BROKE SPORTSWEAR GOLF NEWS!!! Jasons Big Day Out at World Cup of Golf BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2013 ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf | Wrap | 24 Nov 2013 Jason Day has made his first professional victory at home in Australia arguably the most significant of his career with a two shot win over Dane, Thomas Bjorn, at the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne. Not only did Day collect US$1.2 million as the purse for the winning professional he also collected another US$300,000 for his share of the winning team purse, making this by far his most lucrative payday since turning professional in 2006. “It feels great,” said the winner. I just really don’t know what to think right now. All the hard work and dedication that I have put into my game, you know, especially over the last five, 10 years, that I have really taken it serious is paying off. “You know, it’s taken me a while to get my second big win and it couldn’t be more fitting with Scotty by my side winning the World Cup down here in Melbourne. You know, I had a lot of fun, even though it was very tough out there today, it was very difficult golf conditions, I had a lot of fun out there today. “Today I learnt a lot about myself and I am just really excited for next week to get started as well but I am definitely going to embrace being a World Cup winner tonight and I won’t go too crazy but I will definitely have a drink or two and right now I am just the happiest guy right now.” Day began the round with a one shot lead over Bjorn but by the time he got to the first tee Adam Scott, who began the day seven shots back and 30 minutes ahead, was looming as a potential threat for the title. Scott miraculously holed his approach for eagle at the first then birdied the 2nd and 3rd holes to be four under and just two behind Day who had bogeyed the first. Scott would keep coming however and by the time he hit his tee shot into the middle of the fairway at the 18th he was within one and needing a birdie to put the ultimate pressure on his team-mate. Scott though would three putt the 72nd hole and his great last round charge had ended although his round of 66 would ensure he and Day would comfortably win the teams event by a massive ten shots over the USA with a further two shots back to Japan. Scott would earn US$790,000 for his valiant effort to recover from a quintuple bogey 9 at the 12th hole on Thursday. “I tried to keep my focus a little bit on the teams’ event, especially after Thursday obviously when I was far behind,” said Scott. It has traditionally been a team event and I felt like we’re playing here at Royal Melbourne and Australia for the World Cup. “I thought it would be great if Jason and I were to win. Both of us were in good form and I thought it was a great opportunity for us to get our names on a trophy. And like I said all week, I think one day we will look back with really fond memories and be very proud that we have played here and represented Australia and won the World Cup in Australia. No matter whether we win it again or not, I think it is going to be a memorable experience for both of us.” Today, though, Day appeared to take control of the individual title when, after a bogey at the first when trying to get a little cute with his second and leaving it short, he birdied the 3rd and 4th before a stunning pitch in from 90 yards or so for eagle at the 6th to take a three shot lead over his playing partner Bjorn. When Bjorn bogeyed the 7th the lead was four and Day then appeared to be in total control. Royal Melbourne, however, has a way of never allowing anyone to get too far ahead of themselves and at the 10th hole it was about to bite the leader in the backside. A tee shot was pulled left and found the trees leading to a double bogey and the lead had been reduce to two. “That was a wrong club,” said Day. The communication between me and my caddie, Col, was very short on that tee shot. Normally I talk things through and that run out is 270 yards where I hit it downwind about 10 to 20 paces with pretty firm fairways. If I pull my 2-iron it’s going to go in there nine times out of 10. So, getting past that was very difficult. “I was very frustrated with myself knowing that I should have taken a little bit more time on the tee shot, understanding that if I do pull it it will go on the trees. The second shot didn’t help, compounding that bad shot with another bad shot into the trees and then after I hit that shot I just said, “Okay, what do I need to do to get this back out on the fairway to give myself a chance at making a bogie at the best, double at the worst.” The lead was reduced even further when Bjorn birdied the very next hole. The Dane then birdied the 13th and the gap had closed completely. Both birdied the very reachable par five 15th but when Bjorn drove it in the trees at the 16th and took bogey he had fallen one behind. Day, though, had to fight for his own par at the 16th. From the middle of the fairway he blocked his approach right and caught the bunker. He hit a sweeping shot of 40 yards to ten feet above the hole. He holed that putt and with Bjorn taking a bogey at the same hole he had the lead. Both parred the 17th and with Day finding the fairway at the last and Bjorn missing right, Day’s prospects of victory increased further. Bjorn all but sealed the deal with a bogey after taking two to get out of the greenside bunker. That left Day with two putts from 15 feet which he comfortably negotiated for this two shot victory. Day was asked after his round as to how the five week layoff before this week’s event had impacted on him. “I think there was a little bit of rust Friday, just a few little sloppy shots out there. But the practice session after Friday’s round really turned things around for me. I really got myself back into the tempo that I should have been in on Friday, you know, just walking into the ball was a lot slower over the last two days, it was a lot more deliberate. You know, the communication between me and Col was fantastic except for that one shot on the 10th. “I tried to get that commitment back into the golf swing making sure that I trusted myself through the shot instead of steering a few shots here and there.” Obviously a fraction disappointed, Bjorn talked about his near miss. I didn’t play that great today to be honest. I made a couple of mistakes here and there and not as good as I played the other two days and six and seven was a big turning point in the round, obviously Jason holing his second shot on six. “But, you know, as a whole it’s been a great week. It’s been a great pleasure to play on this golf course the way it has played this week and, you know, I couldn’t be happier for Jason winning. You know, he has gone through a rough time of late and for him to even be here is a big thing and then to go and win a golf tournament and for them to win the team event as well, you know, that’s what you want to see. Day was going to celebrate this great win tonight but in the back of his mind is his national open championship at Royal Sydney next week. “I have never played Royal Sydney before so preparation is huge for me next week. I am probably most likely going to take tomorrow off after such a big week this week. I just need time to just relax and think about what has happened over the last week. “I will get out there Tuesday and really try and put a good solid 18 holes in, get a good practice session in and then play the pro-am and hopefully by then I am familiar with the golf course. I feel like everything is in a good spot right now. I just need to keep working hard and hopefully, you know, put on a good show next week. These were ominous words from the World Cup champion and it might just be that despite the presence of Rory McIlroy in the field, next week’s Australian Open at the Royal Sydney Golf Club in Rose Bay will again develop into the Day and Scott show. That is of course with no disrespect to this week’s runner-up Thomas Bjorn who certainly added to the intrigue today.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:08:18 +0000