Jason Day, Fil-Australian PGA Top Golfer and Number 8 in World Golf Rankings
He’s 9th in the money leaders list in the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour with nearly $4 million in winnings this year.
He’s finished in the top five, with two second place finishes – one at the Masters and another in the US Open – two of golf’s four yearly major tournament championships.
He’s 9th in the money leaders list in the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour with nearly $4 million in winnings this year.
He’s finished in the top five, with two second place finishes – one at the Masters and another in the US Open – two of golf’s four yearly major tournament championships.
At only 24 years of age, Filipino-Australian Jason Day is already one of the PGA’s top golfers in the world ranking high in the money leaders list and among the top rated golfers around the world. Many analysts consider Day to be golf’s next superstar.
But to Day, he’s just following the path he set forth for himself when he earned his PGA tour card in 2007. That day, he became Australia’s youngest golfer to earn a PGA tour card and he also boldly predicted he would be No. 1 in the world by the time he was 23, according to the NY Times.
“At the start of my career, I thought I was going to come out and kill it,” he told the NY Times. “I’ve slowly worked my way back up to where I believe I can be.”
Though he’s passed the age of his prediction and not No. 1 yet (he’s currently ranked 8, according to the World Golf Rankings), he’s well on his way to becoming the world’s top golfer.
This past weekend during the President’s Cup, Day and his partner Aaron Baddeley defeated Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson in a match play competition, 1 up.
For Day, it was a memorable win against Woods, his idol and the person he inspired to be when he was a young boy growing up in Queensland, Australia.
“That’s why I woke up every morning at 5:30 and went out and practiced,” Day told the NY Times. “I got up to 32 ½ hours a week of practice because of that guy. He has influenced my life a lot. I’ve always wanted to play against him.”
Day not only played against him. He defeated him.
Afterwards, Woods even chimed in on Day’s potential.
“Does he have the talent to be world No. 1? Absolutely, absolutely he does,” Woods said. “He hits the ball plenty long, a wonderful putter. He has the right attitude for it. It’s just that to get to world No. 1, it takes time. You’ve got to win golf tournaments, and you’ve got to be consistent, week in and week out. Just give him time, and I’m sure he’ll get there.”
Day was born to an Australian father, Alvin, and a Filipina mother, Dening, who met through letters and were employed as meat workers in Queensland, according to ABS-CBN.
His father, Alvin, enrolled him in a local golf academy. By the time he was eight, Day was winning tournaments in his hometown.
It seemed Day was on the right track at an early age. However, when Day was 12, his father died of stomach cancer. The death had a large affect on the younger Day. Golf wasn’t a priority anymore. He rebelled.
His mother sent him to a boarding school at a golf academy, according to the Times. The academy shaped him up. He met several influential people including Col Swatton, a golf instructor and later became a father figure. He also met Neale Smith, a mental coach, that helped him get back on the golf course after his father’s death.
“I was down in the dumps,” Day said. “I wasn’t happy on the golf course. It was kind of like a vicious cycle of me losing to myself.”
Day persevered. As an amateur, he won the Australian Masters junior event. According to his bio, he medaled at the prestigious 2006 Australian Amateur and Queensland Amateurs and has been a mainstay on the elite Australian National Teams that have dominated recent international competitions. As a teenager, he broke Jack Nicklaus’ 34-year-old course record 64 at Royal Hobart.
At 19, Day turned pro and set his sights to becoming No. 1.
It wasn’t until last year when Day won the HP Byron Nelson Championship that people began to notice the young phenom. He followed up that win with great performances this year. He placed second at the Masters and the US Open, golf’s premier tournaments earlier this year. He’s eighth on the money list and is well on his way to reaching his goal of becoming No. 1 golfer in the world.
Day told ABS-CBN that he gets his competitive nature from his Filipino mother.
“She would always tell me to beat (my opponents). Not just beat them, but to crush them into the ground,” he said of his mother.
He credits his parents for teaching him the value of hard work and it’s only a matter of time before he reaches his goal.
“I want to become No. 1 in the world. I was taught in my life, by my parents, that you don’t get anywhere without working hard,” he said.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Nov.26-29, 2011 Sec.A pg.10)
