Jason Day was planning a few celebratory drinks after winning the US$8 million World Cup of Golf on home soil yesterday, before turning his efforts to raising awareness for the devastated Philippines, where eight of his relatives were killed by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
The grieving 26-year-old competed with a heavy heart at Royal Melbourne, but played some of the finest golf of his life to seal the individual trophy by two strokes and drive Australia to a runaway victory in the team competition.
Day’s triumph was watched by his Filipino-born mother, Dening, whose own mother was lost in the typhoon, and the pair shared an emotional embrace by the 18th green after the final par-putt rolled in before a roaring gallery.
Photo: AFP
Prior to the tournament, Day said he had hoped his teammate, world No. 2 Adam Scott, would carry him through, but he ended up shouldering the load after the US Masters champion opened with a four-over 75, including a nightmare quintuple-bogey on the 12th.
Locked in a two-way battle with seasoned Dane Thomas Bjorn on the back nine, Day drained a seven-foot putt for a crucial par on the 16th to take a one-stroke lead and held on to celebrate an emotional victory.
“It feels great, I just really don’t know what to think right now,” the world No. 18 told reporters after notching just his second victory three years after his maiden title at the Byron Nelson Championship. “Today I learned a lot about myself ... I am definitely going to embrace being a World Cup winner tonight and I won’t go too crazy, but I will definitely have a drink or two and, you know, right now I am just the happiest guy.”
Day won US$1.2 million for sealing individual honors at the biennial tournament and will share another US$600,000 with Scott for winning the team trophy.
“Right now we’re in the process of doing something,” Day said when asked about relief efforts in the Philippines. “Definitely, we’ll probably most likely set something up and definitely be giving some money or raising money, and trying to raise awareness to what has really happened over there.”
“The devastation and the tragedy that’s gone on over in the Philippines is very difficult for us to see,” he said. “Once you know of someone or are related to someone who has gone through something like that it’s very close to the heart.”
Day and Scott’s triumph in the team event was Australia’s fifth.
Australian golfing luminary Peter Thomson, a five-time Open winner who clinched the 1954 and 1959 trophies with compatriot Kel Nagle, was at Royal Melbourne to congratulate Day personally.
“He said that he was going to see his friend Kel Nagle and he was going to tell his friend about what he saw today,” Day said of the 84-year-old. “I replied I’d love to have five British Opens, too. He said: ‘At least get three.’ So I have to kind of fulfill my promise there one day.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS