Jason Day speaks to the media at the Presidents Cup on Tuesday.
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We’ve all been looking for on Jason Day a lot this year – man gaining more attention for his clothes than his game – but have you been listening him? He’s been secretly one of the best quotes in pro golf, not necessarily for revealing information or clues about where the game is going, but honestly letting us know where it’s been. And we have all been better off because of it.
The world’s best golfers constantly get in front of microphones after good rounds to talk about their birdie on the 14th, the decision on the 7th, or just what it was like to play in the same group as Adam Scott’s 63. These sessions are rare therapeutic. More often they are treated as a dragging obligation, where the faster and simpler to answer, the faster and simpler it will be. (Is it because of the questions, or the frequency of these meetings? Maybe.) But in front of them Jason Day has been great lately, treating them as opportunities to work on his thoughts. Not to rush to the next question. To embrace pursuits. Just… to share.
It goes back to the Olympics, two months ago, when Day represented Australia. He was overcome with emotion on the first day of the race and was stunned at how nervous he was looking down and seeing the colors on his chest.
“It’s amazing, obviously we’re not playing for money this week. We are playing for a medal and you are here for a kind of free game,” he said. “But my point is, it looks completely different. This is the most nervous thing I’ve ever felt standing in a machine box with a set of clothes I’m wearing for the first time.”
Day was learning something about herself at that moment and she wasn’t afraid to tell the world about it. In return, we learned something about him that we hadn’t known. That’s the ultimate payoff of talking to the media — telling your story, adding layers of context to everything we know — and one that’s being lost in the age of social media, where players can control the narrative of their careers as they see fit. . When it came to Day and the Olympics, we knew he missed out in 2021, and we knew he chose not to compete in 2016, citing concerns about the Zika virus. But did we know that he regretted it?
day shared it during the Olympicsalso.
“At the time, I think I was like No. 1 or 2 in the world,” Day said, “and I think I was at a point where I was kind of burnt out and the last thing on my mind was representing Australia at the Olympics.
“Looking back, I should have soaked it up and gone down and played. I think in that case, it would have been a great experience for me to go there and represent something that’s bigger than you.”
We shouldn’t slurp like crazy at a golfer who is sharing his truth, but basically this is a man who is simply admitting a mistake. A change in opinion. In a world where flip-flopping is often considered a sin, there might be room for us to embrace it a little more. Over time, Day’s eyes have widened and his ego isn’t so big that he can’t mention it out loud.
This week, Day is competing in his fifth Presidents Cupmaking him one of the most experienced players in the international team. Only Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama have played more. And on Tuesday, he was pushed back to the microphone and responded by sharing more recaps of his Presidents Cup journey.
“I think in my younger days I didn’t really look at the Presidents Cup as something I wanted to play in because it’s such an individual sport and I never really cared about playing in the Presidents Cup because I was interested in everything. was playing on the PGA Tour and trying to win,” Day said. “Obviously the Olympics opened my eyes a little bit to know that it’s a little bit more than you. To be part of the President’s Cup team — look, if play one game, I’ll do my best. I’m just here to try to support them as best I can. If they play me five times, then I’m ready to go five times I care how much it is.”
Why Day wasn’t able to go all the way in this biannual team event — where players don’t compete for prize money nor individual accolades — certainly has something to do with it. But if he can take a little walk down memory lane, he felt like he was following the path laid by his international teammates around him.
“Just remember when I first started it, I was really worried about it,” he said. “And I felt like there were some guys that just didn’t have the will as much as some of the other guys. When not everyone is working towards a goal, then it hurts.
“Then, you quickly move on to some of the others, I didn’t have as much movement as some of the other guys, and that kind of hurts the whole team environment. You have to have all the guys pushing towards that goal to win the Cup.”
This would hardly be the first time we’ve heard players admit to struggling to get on board for a team match at the end of a long season of individual scrimmage. But the fact that it comes now, on the eve of that tag team event, sets the scene for Day’s entire week, and he shouldn’t have volunteered that information.
Day went on to elaborate on the matter, even mentioning the 2015 Cup in Korea as one he wasn’t OVER for. You know, that Cup that was decided by the final match, where the internationals almost won. Why is this information important, all these years later?
Because “I think it hurts the team environment,” Day said. “I can’t be there saying, Hey, these people didn’t drive and I’m doing the exact same thing, come a couple of years later.”
It’s pretty clear that Day plans to be a better Presidents Cupper moving forward. But as a result of sharing his journey with the Cup, we can all understand it even better. On a macro level, whenever he becomes captain, and on a micro level, when he reacts to his play this week. If he plays poorly, it will color the emotions even better. If he plays great and leads his team to an upset victory, there’s your Hollywood ending. Simply, the fans will i know that even better. And to keep the good vibes going, the questions he gets from the media afterwards will be even better. We can only hope the honesty tour continues then. It’s a very fun ride.
