Jason Day fights through back pain to take share of Barclays lead
EDISON, N.J. – Vertigo caused by an inner ear infection knocked Jason Day to the floor of Chambers Bay in the second round of the U.S. Open back in June but didn’t stop him from taking a share of the lead after 54 holes and then finishing in a tie for ninth.
You really didn’t think a bad back was going to stop him this week in The Barclays, the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, did you?
On Wednesday, Day was laying on his back in a nearby hospital room getting an MRI on his back, which he tweaked while moving a box under his motor coach the day before. On Saturday, he left Plainfield Country Club with a share of the lead following a 7-under-par 63.
While the joke is that the box contained the massive Wanamaker Trophy he won two weeks ago in the PGA Championship for his first major, it was the latest breakdown of his body that had his head reeling. He withdrew from the pro-am. He grabbed his back on many occasions in the first two rounds. His history, with injuries that have included his left thumb and hand, is never far from his thoughts.
But while his body has broken down from time to time, his will power to overcome has never cracked. He’s one tough 27-year-old Aussie and as he said, he’s just had to “push through” the pain a few times this week as he plays with a back that tightens up occasionally.
“I knew that I was going to be able to play. I just needed that day of rest because if I went out on Wednesday and played and tried to play, there's no chance I would have played the tournament,” Day said. “It was kind of one of those freak things that happened, and it's nothing that you can really control.
“ … I'm just an old man, and things like that happen.”
Aside from his battle with vertigo at the U.S. Open and his tweaked back this week, Day has been relatively healthy this year. For the past 18 months, Day has followed the lead of his physiotherapist and trainer Cornel Driessen, who came up with a game plan to strengthen Day’s body, especially his back.
More times than not Day will wake up with a stiff back. But as is routine, Day then begins what will amount to three hours of exercises to loosen and activate his body and make him stronger.
“So I've done a lot of work away from the golf course, even on Tour, as well, to really kind of strengthen everything,” said Day, who won the PGA, Farmers Insurance Open and RBC Canadian Open this year. “I've put in a lot of hours to try and get to where I'm at today. And in that year and a half, I had nothing really pop up until this week.”
It helped that New Jersey has been a sauna this week. On Saturday temperatures exceeded 90 degrees. Which was just fine with Day.
“To be able to have hot weather is huge,” Day said. “My body is a totally different body on the West Coast swing compared to the summer swing. The back isn’t to the point where it's stopping me from hitting 300-plus yard drives, so I'm happy about that.”
The heat of competition doesn’t get to Day, either. He and playing partner Sangmoon Bae each shot 63 in the third round to move to 11 under, one stroke ahead of Bubba Watson (67). Ryan Palmer (65), Zach Johnson (67) and Henrik Stenson (67) are two back.
“Right now, the groove that I'm in, I'm just trying to keep the same swing that I've been doing over the summer,” said Day, who has muscled up in the past 18 months and added 10 yards to his driver. “I’ve just got to get some rest tonight and kind of come into (Sunday’s) round and be patient out there.
“I'm shooting for my fourth win of the season, so I can't really get ahead of myself, and I've just got to not be satisfied with the score that I'm at. I've just got to keep pushing and pushing.”
Balky back and all.
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