Jason Day will test his back after a three-week break when he tees off tomorrow as the defending champion at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
It will be an emotional week as the first since the legend and host died in September last year, just before the Ryder Cup, aged 87.
But The King, who inspired an army, will forever be present at Bay Hill, with a 13-foot statue overlooking the first and 10th tees unveiled last week.
Day will be the highest ranked in the field, where only half the top 20 will be on duty.
Day (2), Rory McIlroy (3), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Henrik Stenson (4), Rickie Fowler (9), Justin Rose (13), Danny Willett (14), Paul Casey (15), Bubba Watson (17), and Brenden Grace (19) will tee off.
But the newly crowned No.1, Dustin Johnson, will be missing, along with Jordan Spieth (6), Justin Thomas (7), Adam Scott (8), Sergio Garcia (10), Alex Noren (11), Patrick Reed (12), Tyrell Hatton (16), Phil Mickelson (18), and Matt Kuchar (20).
The Australians on duty, apart from Day, are the struggling Steve Bowditch, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Marc Leishman, Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, and Cameron Smith.
But 29-year-old Day will be the centre of attention.
He has joined an illustrious group who have been plagued with back problems, headed by Freddie Couples, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Louis Oosthuizen
Couples managed to keep his back in cotton wool and is still going strong on the Champions Tour aged 57. But there’s no doubt he would have been even more successful had his back been stronger.
It’s fair to assume Woods’ back has ended his career at age 40, while both McIlroy and Oosthuizen had to make radical swing changes to prolong their careers.
There’s a newcomer to the bad back brigade: 24-year-old Patrick Cantlay.
Five years ago he was the world’s number one amateur, ahead of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, for a then-record 55 weeks.
With a glittering pro career about to launch, his back was so bad he wasn’t even allowed to pick up a putter for four years.
Last week at the Valspar, in only his second pro start, Cantlay had a ding-dong battle with Canadian Adam Hadwin down the final stretch to lose by a shot on the final hole.
Both were seeking their first USPGA success, beating Henrik Stenson, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, and defending champion Charl Schwartzel in the process.
We’ll hear a lot more about the very talented Patrick Cantlay sooner than later.
But a Jason Day success story this week is on top of the wish list.
joe
Guest
I agree its extremely difficult to win Majors.But that is the measuring stick for greatness in golf (& tennis).Jason Day at his best is a great player,i hope injuries don't diminish his ability to compete at the highest level & rack up a few more major victories over the next half dozen years.If he can do that & finish his career with 4 or 5 major victories under his belt he would go down as the best golfer ever from Australia.
Matthew Russell
Roar Pro
Watch and play plenty of Golf mate, I think if you asked Jason day he would have the same opinion as me.The realisation is Winning Majors and staying number is very tough
joe
Guest
When you get to that elite level a successful season is measured on how many majors you win.Winning lesser tournaments is fine but winning even 1 major outweighs everything.Thats part of why Greg Norman's legacy isn't as good as it could be.He never won The Masters,US Open or PGA.Add a couple of those Majors to Norman's resume' & history looks at him much more kindly. Jason Day is in same boat.You got to win one of those 4 each year to have it be a successful season from an historical perspective.Sure he will make money thru endorsements regardless so financially its definitely a great season no matter what. I hope his back issues don't plague him but it looks ominous, he always seems to be battling some sort of ailment. Lets hope he can get & stay healthy because he is as good as anyone when firing on all cylinders.
KingCowboy
Guest
Geez Matt you honestly not watch must golf. Day killed it last year, sure he did't win a major but he played great. There are some great players out there at moment including Johnson, Speith and Rory.
TGW
Guest
Hasn't kicked on? He has won 5 tournaments since then. Only DJ has won more. 2 of those were playoffs events, with a WGC and the Players. Last year was top 10 in 3 majors and T22 in the other.
Matthew Russell
Roar Pro
I Hope Jason can perform well this week, I had real high hopes when he won the PGA in 15 but he hasn't kicked on. He is playing in tough era with a lot of good players and if he can stay in the top 5 five in for the next 5 years with a couple more majors it will be a great period for him hopefully. I cant see anyone dominating like Tiger again so a 3 majors on the next few years will be a great achievement