Recent wins for Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have only energized world No. 1 Jason Day, who on Tuesday said he is looking forward to teeing it up against his rivals in the Memorial today.
Day is to compete for the first time since his wire-to-wire victory at The Players Championship.
During his break, McIlroy ended a six-month victory drought with a scintillating victory at the Irish Open, while Spieth shook off a Masters meltdown to win at Colonial Country Club on Sunday and edge closer to Day atop the world rankings.
Photo: AFP
For Day, the successes of his rivals are fuel for his own competitive fire.
“I heard a couple of weeks ago that it bothered Jordan that I was winning tournaments and have the No. 1 spot in the world,” Day said as he prepared for the Jack Nicklaus-hosted tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
“And it should,” the Australian said. “It should bother guys who are competitive and want to stay on top as well. I know I’m pushed that way as well when I see Rory or Jordan on top of the world. I want to do that as well. So it’s great to see how they’ve responded so quickly.”
Day, Spieth and third-ranked McIlroy are among 30 of the top 50 in the world in the field for the US$8.5 million tournament, which also features No. 4 Bubba Watson, fifth-ranked Rickie Fowler and No. 8 Dustin Johnson.
Muirfield Village has not been especially hospitable to Day.
It is especially disheartening as his wife, Ellie, is from Ohio and Day is a member at Muirfield — a fact that he said has actually hurt him in the tournament.
“I typically play this course when I’m playing in a social round,” he said. “I play it very aggressive. I’m hitting drivers off most tees or taking lines that you wouldn’t take. For some reason, I’ve kind of turned that into the actual tournament, I’m taking similar lines, and you just can’t do that.”
Having decided to change that approach, and with his confidence still high in the wake of his win at TPC Sawgrass, Day said he believes this is the year he could turn his Memorial fortunes around.
“I feel different this year,” he said. “And I’m hoping for a better result.”
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