Jason Day is Australia's greatest athlete (right now)

By Patrick Effeney / Editor

Does anyone have Rexona’s number? We need another edition of the greatest show to ever air on television – Australia’s Greatest Athlete.

Though this time the title should just be delivered upon appointment, by me, in this article.

And the recipient? Well, if you read the headline you’d have half a clue.

It’s Jason Day.

Day’s resume for 2015 is impressive, but it’s more representative of a long, steady build-up where he has built his game to be unmatchable when it’s on song.

Grinding away on the USPGA Tour mightn’t seem that glamorous (it is though, Day has earned over $7 million this year), and players certainly get lost in the spectrum.

But I have absolutely no doubt Jason is the best sportsperson in the world who hails from Australia right now.

Now number three in golf the world behind Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Day has been the best player on Tour in the last two months, and probably second best for the year, but only by a whisker.

No illness at the US Open, and a bit more time to prepare for the subsequent Open Championship could have seen the Aussie walk away with more than one major in 2015.

Long and straight drives, the highest on Tour. Accurate irons, and a ridiculously hot putter has seen Day sweep aside the competition in the last two events he has played.

There’s barely been the need to scramble, but when he has had to he’s got it done – the glaring exception being on the third day at St Andrews, which pretty well cost him the tournament.

Golf and its professional circuit is played over a whopping 43 weeks of the year. There are USPGA events, European Tour events, Masters events, majors, playoffs and pro-ams, and then there’s weird formats like the President’s and Ryder Cups that people pretend to understand, but really have no clue.

I jest, but not about the saturation of the sport. There’s so much of it played, sometimes it’s hard to recognise just how big it is when one of your own is excelling each and every time he steps out onto the course. Because that’s how it is with Jason Day at the moment.

He just won his first major. Now because it wasn’t the Masters or the Open, it probably didn’t get as much coverage as it might have, but he still won it.

He just won the first event of the USPGA Tour playoffs, where only the top 125 players on Tour are invited to participate.

He’s a good shake at capturing the world number 1 ranking by next Monday if he plays half as well as he did last weekend.

Day is one of the top three in terms of average length of the tee. He’s the second best putter on Tour. He averages the most birdies on Tour.

Between Day and close rivals Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, you have three guys playing exceptionally each and every week – no matter what the course, or what the conditions.

It’s like having three Tiger Woods circa 2005 battling it out each week (when Rory’s not getting himself injured), and one of them is an Aussie.

Day has won three of his last four times he has played on Tour. The one he didn’t win was a 12th place finish at a WGC event. The two events before that were the US and British Open, where he came in a tie for ninth and a tie for fourth.

You know you’re playing well when you break the record for the best score ever in a major – 20-under on a difficult course in Whistling Straits.

Some of the comments from his peers told the real story; this wasn’t a dolly of a victory. Jordan Spieth, the best golfer for a majority of 2015, was at the top of his game across those four days. Spieth and his fellow players were in awe that Day managed to shoot so low on that course, in those conditions.

If that wasn’t good enough, how about a six-shot victory to follow it up?

On a very tricky course at the Barclays, one that favoured accurate irons and excellent putting, Day did it again.

So from walloping them 350 metres down the middle at Whistling Straits and Chambers Bay (Where Day suffered from vertigo from the second day onwards) to hitting 1 irons 250m to put himself into perfect position in the first event of the PGA playoffs,

It might be blasphemous, but you know the old saying about holding a 1 iron up in a lightning storm. Jason Day is that good right now.

The resume is there.

And is there a better Australian doing anything in the sporting world right now?

I think not. Not even Jarryd Hayne.

He’s also a better bloke than Nick Kyrgios. Somehow most other people who write about Jason Day feel compelled to compare the two, so there you go.

The Crowd Says:

2015-09-04T00:38:51+00:00

pete bloor

Guest


Says "and" not "or". Would you think Day is amongst the most proficient Australians at physical exercise?

2015-09-03T23:40:17+00:00

Arnold Krewanty

Guest


Totally agree Tristan. I think Patrick's statement may be based on he amount of money Jason Day has made this calendar year, rather than his "athletic" ability. Golf players are not "athletes" - look at John Daly!

2015-09-03T07:33:03+00:00

Baz

Guest


Athlete? No. Hell no. Sportsperson? No. Perry from the Australian Women's soccer and cricket teams is miles ahead. Hayne on another level again.

2015-09-03T07:04:42+00:00

Rocco75

Guest


I think maybe the word used should have been 'sportsperson" rather than athlete. I do agree though that right now, he is Australia's best performing sports person on the global stage. if he keeps going like he is, he will be the world no.1 golfer. and yes, Jason Day can't run the 100 meters in 10 seconds or bench press 300kgs but he is dominating a game that is very difficult to master even for a pro.

AUTHOR

2015-09-03T05:14:04+00:00

Patrick Effeney

Editor


Ha! Good point Bondy. Like your thinking.

2015-09-02T21:01:57+00:00

Scuba

Guest


Malcolm Page retired after London, which might explain why you haven't seen much written about him of late

2015-09-02T16:33:44+00:00

tomnyc

Guest


Absolutely correct. Winning on the US PGA tour is an incredibly hard thing to do. Ask Stenson, Rose, Sergio et al, no wins this year. Tiger in 13 won 5 times, the next best is a handful at 4. For those who don't think golfers are athletes, they 1) must have never played and therefore 2) have no appreciation for playing 72 holes over 4 days and the mental and physical toll it takes on you. Your accountant who plays golf might not be an athlete but these guys sure are. He is a great bloke also.

2015-09-02T13:05:39+00:00

Matth

Guest


I agree. In terms of recent world dominance, I can't think of anyone else who has been ahead of his peers like that

2015-09-02T11:26:57+00:00

NickBrisbane

Guest


The Oxford Dic defines an athlete as: "A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise" - Id say a golfer fits into that definition.

2015-09-02T08:59:56+00:00

Jameswm

Guest


Sportsman, I'd agree. Athlete, sorry, can't see a golfer bring that. Hayne, Lapierre etc is more like it.

2015-09-02T07:01:43+00:00

Bondy

Guest


What's interesting also Patrick is the "athletes " who make all the Big money and Big acclaim A Bogut, J Day,T Cahill, L Hewitt etc cant lift a 100 kilo's nor run time over the 100 mtrs ,all of those athletes wouldn't qualify for that programme Australia's greatest athlete .....

2015-09-02T06:36:37+00:00

Tristan Rayner

Editor


Rabbitz, without a trace of sarcasm, please do enlighten us. We are very blinkered by professional athletes who tend to exist in the most competitive environments. Ken Wallace, Malcolm Page, and Matthew Cowdrey et al. are no slouches, but you have to hunt to find their recent achievements outside of Comm Games and Olympics.

2015-09-02T05:52:47+00:00

Nick

Guest


Ha hahahahahaha Ha ahahahahahaha Hahahaha hahahaha Ridiculous Got any darts pros perhaps? Maybe some competetive eaters? Long distance shoppers? Hahahahahaha

AUTHOR

2015-09-02T01:46:39+00:00

Patrick Effeney

Editor


I suppose the contention would then be left to things like field size and competitiveness of the event. Is a ping pong #1 better performing than a runner up in the tennis? And what about team sports? This is what makes this such a good debate.

2015-09-02T01:42:52+00:00

Rabbitz

Roar Guru


I disagree, strongly, with the "best performing" tag. Australia has many competitors, in many sports, and some are actually ranked No.1 or World Champion. I suggest these folk are performing better.

AUTHOR

2015-09-02T00:55:31+00:00

Patrick Effeney

Editor


You are so wrong Trist. There's more to being an athlete than having big ceps. Though Jason Day does have big ceps. Bigger than me, anyway.

2015-09-02T00:18:24+00:00

Tristan Rayner

Editor


Paddy, I started reading this thinking he's obviously, obviously not. Athletes are more like Jarryd Hayne. Golfers as athletes is about as legitimate as Brett Lee being a crooner. ...however. He's certainly the best *performing* Australian on the global stage at the moment, even with Hayne making yards!

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