Day: From childhood dream to reality

Jason Day's victory at the BMW Championship on Sunday was the realisation of a dream, and the culmination of a life-long quest to become the No. 1 in the world.
The Australian's emphatic wire-to-wire victory at Conway Farms comes just three weeks after his victory at the opening FedEx Cup event, the Barclays, and a few weeks more after his maiden major triumph at the PGA Championship.
Put simply, there is no more exciting golfer on the planet right now – and that's saying something in a year that also featured Jordan Spieth's incredible major-winning exploits.
Day is no overnight success, however. His journey started when he first started hitting golf balls as a six-year-old, and gathered steam when he watched Tiger Woods win the 1997 Masters four years later.
Like many golfers Day's age, Tiger's exploits were hugely inspiring. Day soon picked up Woods' instructional book, and read it from cover to cover.
His mentor and caddie Colin Swatton recalls Day walking into his office at The Kooralbyn International School as a 14 or 15-year-old, and asking him: "Do you really think I can be the best player in the world?"
"I said, 'Absolutely. You just have to listen, be patient, work hard and eventually you’re going to get there.'
"I had every reason to believe he could get there one day."
Five years later, Day was on a conference call with Australian media as he prepared for his first PGA TOUR season. He told them his dream was to overtake Tiger Woods as the world’s best player.
Coming from a 20-year-old who hadn't yet proven a thing, and right in the midst of the dominant Woods era, the media saw Day as delusional. The backlash was considerable.
"He was really upset," Swatton said. "He said, 'What did I say wrong? Everyone wants to be the best golfer in the world. They don’t want to be second or third, do they?'"
How things have changed. Day has just picked up his fifth victory of the year, shortly after becoming a major champion. He tied the 36-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour this past week, and overtook Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings.
"I’d love to say, 'I told you so', but that wouldn’t be very nice," Day said. "It’s OK to dream big. It’s OK to say what you want to do."
Day knew that victory on Sunday would propel him to the top of the rankings. Considering how long that has been a dream of his, he admitted to feeling the pressure.
"It’s been very difficult for me to downplay getting to No. 1 because I really wanted to reach this goal for a very long time now," he said.
But if his 10-year-old self saw becoming the World No. 1 as a fantastical achievement that would transform his life, his 27-year-old self has a more measured reaction.
"It just feels normal," Day added. "I feel like I did yesterday, the same. Once again, I’m just a regular guy like everyone else.
"Everyone has dreams. As long as you stick to them and work hard, you can accomplish anything."
Michael Schmitt
Latest
-
News
Collin Morikawa keen to draw inspiration from family ties to Hawaii at Sony Open
Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas has withdrawn from the event after testing positive for coronavirus.
-
News
R&A: ‘No plans’ for Open to head to Donald Trump-owned Turnberry in near future
Trump National in Bedminster was on Sunday stripped of next year’s US PGA Championship.
-
News
US PGA Championship moved from Donald Trump-owned course in New Jersey
Trump National in Bedminster had been set to host the event.
-
News
Justin Thomas : ‘I made a terrible, terrible judgement call’
Thomas admitted he was distracted by what happened on Saturday during his final round.
-
News
PGA Championship to be moved away from Donald Trump-owned course
It is the second time in six years the PGA has moved an event away from a course owned by Donald Trump.
-
News
‘It’s inexcusable’ – Justin Thomas apologises for homophobic slur in Hawaii
The world number three was heard using the derogatory word towards himself after missing a par putt.
-
News
Westwood, McDowell back petition to allow English golf courses to open
The duo have added their names to a petition that has passed 100 000 signatures.
-
News
Xander Schauffele pledges to ‘fake it until I make it’ after contracting Covid
Schauffele is one of 16 players in the Sentry Tournament of Champions who failed to win an official event last season.
-
News
After years with TaylorMade, Jon Rahm joins Callaway
Spaniard will have Callaway woods and irons in his bag at Sentry Tournament of Champions.
-
News
What to expect from the 2021 OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic
There are more prestigious events on the European Tour, but there’s no denying that the Dubai Desert Classic just has something about it.