SAN DIEGO – A third title win at Torrey Pines would be the most unexpected victory of Jason Day’s career.
Not winning since 2018 and having fallen out of the top 100 in the world rankings, Day showed glimpses of his old form en route to Friday 67 which gave him a share of the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open. 14-year-old under 202, is linked to Will Xalatores.
Day struggled for years with a series of back injuries, at times the pain being so severe that he started thinking about life after the PGA Tour.
When asked how he describes the depths he has discovered over the past three years, he said, “A big ball of stress. You came from the top of the world, and suddenly I fell from under you.”
What makes a good day at Torrey Pines?
Dozens of full fields of Farmers Insurance Open
“Even though I’ve had some really good finishing touches here and there in the last three years, it was hard to tell, like, ‘Hey, do you want to keep pushing?’ Because it hurts either way,” he said. “It hurts if you leave. It hurts if you keep pushing. So I just had to suck it up.”
Day has been working with swing coach Chris Cuomo for over a year and manages a body that looks different every day. Gone are the violent vicissitudes that marked its beginning; He and Cuomo collaborate on an action that matches his limited body movements with a technically vocal swaying.
He had been battling back pain since he was young, and had hoped he could extend his career until he was 35. (He hit that age this fall.) But now, he said, “Honestly, I don’t feel like I have any injuries to my body at all. It’s credit to my team sticking with me and pushing me in the right direction.”
There haven’t been many positive signs of late for Day, who has not ranked 40th since July and has fallen to 129th in the world. But he’s now staring at his first Tour title since 2018 Wells Fargo, and his third in the event after winning both 2015 and 18.
Is he ready to win again?
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “So much so.”
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