Jason Day finally gets his wish to go head to head with Tiger Woods for the first time at this week’s Australian Open and there appears little chance he’ll be intimidated.
Australia’s top-ranked golfer, Day on Tuesday welcomed his marquee grouping with 14-time major winner Woods and Robert Allenby for the opening two rounds at The Lakes on Thursday and Friday.
World No.7 Day credits Woods as a major influence on his booming career.
Unlike older Australian colleagues on the US PGA Tour like Allenby, Adam Scott and Stuart Appleby, Day, who turns 24 on Saturday, was too young to have Greg Norman as his childhood inspiration.
“I read a book about Tiger Woods and that is why I woke up every morning at 5.30 and practised,” said Day on Tuesday.
“He has influenced my life a lot. I have always wanted to play against him and it’s going to be fun.”
But Day also he indicated he no longer sees Woods as the man to beat in world golf, even if he is still the top drawcard.
“Looking back the last couple of years, I think he’s lost it a little bit,” said Masters and US Open runner-up Day.
“But when he’s on a roll like he was at the Masters on the front nine, people knew where the roars were coming from.”
“He has plateaued a bit (but) Tiger has proved many people wrong in the past. I think he is going to come back from this and, who knows, he may beat Jack’s record (of 18 major titles).
With the niceties out of the way, Day admitted he considered others his chief roadblock to world No.1 status.
“This is the start of a new generation coming up,” he said, naming Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer as two of his main rivals.
“Rory McIlroy is leading the way (and) we had a bunch of rookies on the PGA Tour this year who won. It is only getting tougher.”
Day is back in Australia for the first time in five years. A former world junior champion, he was just a talented and perhaps cocky teenager when he left these shores, but a couple of lean years on the US Tour provided a reality check.
“I stopped practising and thought it was going to come easy,” he admitted.
“Obviously it didn’t. I finally realised that when you get to a level like this, it’s not about making huge changes to your swing.
“It’s about having the little things right and being mentally prepared for each week and being happy. It’s amazing how much stress and unhappiness can influence your game.”
Day certainly hasn’t stressed out since his arrival in Sydney. He had Monday off to take his American wife Ellie on the tourist trail to Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Woods, too, doesn’t seem too bothered about a meticulous preparation before confronting a stellar field, after arriving late on Monday.
In his first look at the course on Tuesday, he lasted only four holes of a practice round before the slow pace of play prompted him to quit hours before a thunderstorm lashed the course.
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