Jason Day nearly quit golf after injuries, grief — on Sunday he won

Article content

Jason Day nearly didn’t see his comeback story through to the end.

Article content

The 35-year-old former world No. 1 picked up his first win in five years on Sunday at the AT&T Byron Nelson, but after battling multiple injuries and the emotional weight of a sick loved one for years, Day said on Sunday that he nearly gave up the game.

“To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits. I never told my wife that, but I was OK with it, just because it was a very stressful part of my life,” Day said after the win. “Ellie, she never gave up on me trying to get back to the winner’s circle again. She just always was pushing me to try and get better.”

While the injuries were well-documented and visible to fans watching on television, his on-course difficulties were compounded by watching his beloved mother battle lung cancer for five years. Adenil ‘Dening’ Day died last year. Day’s father died of stomach cancer when Jason was 12 years old.

Article content

Article content

“Yeah, I was in tears for a little bit there, and to think about what my mom went through from 2017 on to her passing last year and then to know that,” Day said on Mother’s Day. “It was very emotional to go through and to experience what she was going through, then I had injuries on top of all of that going on in my life.”

Sunday’s win propels Day to 20th in the world rankings. The 35-year-old hasn’t been inside the top-20 since July 2019. The fan favourite heads to this week’s PGA Championship — a tournament he won in 2015 — as one of the betting favourites with a win and six top-tens in his past nine PGA Tour starts.

“At some point when I was talking to a therapist that I was talking about, because obviously I’ve gone through a lot of stuff and you talk to a therapist about it, I kept on visualizing myself in the winner’s circle again, and it was nice to be able to sit here today a winner.”

Article content

Once again being a favourite at a major championship is a far cry from playing golf with a bad back and mysterious vertigo symptoms.

“It was at least a couple years ago when I, I was just struggling,” Day said of the time he considered hanging up his clubs for good. “My thought process was to go, okay, what’s my contract minimum that I have to play. It’s 20 events. I can’t practice Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday really. If I’m playing the pro-am then I’ll struggle to get through that, that’s fine, I’ll get through that. Get in Thursday, Friday, if I make the cut, great, and if I don’t, that’s a tick off the tournament list. To have that mindset, to even just think about the way that I was thinking, just to try and get through a tournament because of how much pain I was in, it’s not a healthy way of playing golf in general, not a healthy way of just living in general.”

Article content

This wasn’t the first time Day considered giving up the game he loved. In 2011, a 23-year-old Day was frustrated with his results and on the night before playing in the Masters (and eventually almost winning that week) he nearly quit on his career before it had even started.

Sitting in the winner’s press conference and reflecting on where he’s at now, Day understands just how far he has come.

“A couple years ago with all the stress, the stuff that was going on personally, it’s just strange that all that stuff kind of adds up and it’s nice to be able to feel like I’m on the other side of that,” he said.

The golf world saw for itself how severe the vertigo symptoms got for Day in 2015 when he collapsed on the fairway during the final round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. This season, at the Masters in April, thinking and hoping it was all behind him, the symptoms returned.

Article content

“I’ve been battling an infection in my sinuses and I didn’t know that I was battling an infection over the last month and a bit, and that was causing a lot of fatigue, and I’m sure that was probably part of the reason why I had the vertigo,” Day said.

Now, back on top of the golf world with a Mother’s Day win and with wife Ellie expecting the couple’s fifth child, Day was asked what advice he’d give his younger self.

“I think the advice that I’d have to give myself is just to be patient, always strive to try and get better, and it’s mainly about the journey; just trying to better yourself not only on the golf course but off the golf course, as well, and growing and learning and just trying to be a better person I think is where it’s at,” he said. “At the end of the day, golf is a nice thing to have and winning is a great thing to have, but the people around you probably are the most important thing at the end of the day.”

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section for news and odds.