Day hopes a week off recharged his FedEx Cup playoff batteries
Jason Day needed a week off.
After winning three of his four prior starts, including the PGA Championship for his major breakthrough, the Aussie world No. 3 ran out of gas. He said he was drained at the Deutsche Bank Championship and he looked that way, ending a streak of 22 consecutive PGA Tour rounds of par or better with a third-round 73 at TPC Boston.
Even though he looked exhausted, Day still managed to finish T-12. Now, with a week off to halve up the FedEx Cup playoffs, Day is back for the BMW Championship and feels up to the task.
“I feel refreshed,” Day said Tuesday. “I feel good. I know that I just have to suck it up for the next two weeks and just go out and play as hard as I can.”
Day comes into the 70-player penultimate playoff event in the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings, assured of a spot in the Tour Championship and in the top five, meaning that if he manages to win the Tour Championship next week, he’ll take the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize. Beyond that, there’s still a (very) outside chance that Day could snatch PGA Tour Player of the Year honors from two-time 2015 major winner Jordan Spieth. To do that, however, Day is likely going to need to finish the season with back-to-back wins.
And, of course, there’s the possibility that Day could become the top-ranked player in the world, joining the game of musical chairs played right now by Spieth and Rory McIlroy, who became No. 1 again in the off week. Day needs a top-two finish and some help from the other two in this no-cut event to get to the top spot in the world, a goal Day has stated several times, including earlier this season.
There may not be a much better setting for Day than BMW host Conway Farms, where the 27-year-old finished tied for fourth two years ago.
“It was a good week off for me,” he said, “but really looking forward to coming back to this course.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
