Jason Day's Reinvention Process Continues in His 12th Masters Appearance

Back issues have forced the Australian to change his swing and he's finally seeing results.

AUGUSTA, Ga.—Jason Day comes to his 12th Masters in the process of reinventing himself.

A questionable back forced the former world No. 1 who once drew the ball to go the other way, now hitting a fade to eliminate the torque and strain on his back.

With his last win coming in May 2018 at the Wells Fargo Championship, the 35-year-old Australian has recorded only one top 3 since then, at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open.

It was in San Diego last year that Day called the three-year period of back issues, losing and trying to regain his game, changing his swing and rebuilding his confidence “a big ball of stress.”

And then a little over a month later, Day’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer.

“It's been an unbelievable learning experience, a very humbling experience to go from the No. 1 player in the world to (No.) 175 and then work my way back,” Day said on the eve of his first Masters since 2021. “It's been a fun little journey. I've actually enjoyed it. Obviously not my mom passing away because I'd rather have her back. But to be able to go through this and try and, I guess, reinvent yourself is unique, and I've enjoyed that thoroughly.”

When the calendar turned to 2023, Day began to show how his new game can handle the rigors on the PGA Tour. He has not only made the cut in all seven events he has played, but has put himself in contention to do more than just pick up a paycheck.

Finishing in the top 10 in five of the seven events, Day has had chances to win for the first time since 2018.

More importantly, Day’s weekend rounds have been supercharged with only one of the 12 rounds over par and a scoring average of 69.25.

In his last event at the WGC-Dell Match Play, Day had a chance before losing in the quarterfinals.

"I got a little inspiration from Tom Brady, a guy that was an inspiration to a lot of people ... for him to be at that young age of 45 and be competitive in the NFL, it's remarkable, to be honest, a true testament to his ability,” Day said. “And then, obviously, the mental ability that he has ... I think in golf, it's even better if you keep yourself healthy and you can still hit it a decent length. You can be competitive for a long, long time.”

The game and the attitude are reinvented, but also still a work in progress.

Day would like to be able to go out there and play without a few swing thoughts, but he’s not there yet.

Currently thinking about making sure that he has good hip turn on the way back, if the right elbow flares out enough on top of the swing, that he has a little bit of a squat going into transition, the right arm goes down the right side of his body, rotate and get his hands low and make sure he gets his right wrist and right hand on top and then also finding a way to compete ... it’s a lot to digest.

With all these swing thoughts top of mind on the range, Day knows he has to boil down the focus to just a couple thoughts when on the course.

“I'm kind of physically forced to have to think about this stuff out on the golf course because if I don't, then I go back into some bad habits, and that can potentially harm my back,” Day said. “So, I'm forced to be able to have to think about this stuff. I would say that, like, the majority of the major issues are taken care of. It's just the small little things, really minute, small things that you don't really see to the naked eye.

Day believes the strike, flight, trajectory and spin on the ball are starting to yield what he has been trying to achieve, more control, but with control he hopes to find the ability to shape shots.

“It's hard to be patient because you see guys succeed and you know that you can do it,” Day said. “But just small little things happen along the way, and things get gradually better and better, and then all of the sudden you're back there. Last year I was 175th in the world, and I'm back to 35 in the world, which is nice.”

When Day steps on the tee on Thursday, it will be his 45th major championship. He has one major victory on his resume, the 2015 PGA Championship.

Having missed the cut in his last two Masters appearances, Day must think back to when he finished with a T5 in 2019 after a final-round 67.

He comes to Augusta hoping his swing thoughts minimize, his control of the ball is what is required over a difficult layout and then that he has the confidence to get into position to let his innate ability to finish it off.

It’s a long laundry list for Day to come out with a green jacket on Sunday, but while Day was recording his fourth top 10 in 2019, another reinvented player, Tiger Woods was winning his fifth green jacket.