As the words are coming out of Jason Day’s mouth, he knows he’s walking the thin line of hypocrisy. Recounting his Presidents Cup experiences on Tuesday as he prepared to play in the event for the fifth time this week at Royal Montreal, the Australian contends that poor attitudes by some players on early International teams soured him on what has been a lopsided rivalry in favour of the Americans. Then, minutes later, Day admits that he, too, became an indifferent participant in contributing to the malaise.
Now 36, with a string of huge successes and disheartening setbacks behind him, maturity and maybe an absence from the Presidents Cup have changed Day’s perspective. After being off the team for the past two competitions, the former World No. 1 is back to some semblance of form, with his 13th career win coming in the 2023 Byron Nelson and four top-10s achieved in the most recent campaign.
If he is not hungrier than before, he is more appreciative of the meal laid out before him.
“I think it’s having an appreciation for being able to go out and play,” Day said. “I think in my younger day I didn’t really look towards the Presidents Cup as something that I wanted to play in because it’s such an individual sport, and I never really cared too much to play in the Presidents Cup because all I cared about was playing on the PGA Tour and trying to win.
“Obviously, the Olympics kind of opened my eyes a little bit to know that it’s a little bit more than yourself. To be a part of the Presidents Cup team … look, if I play one match, I’m going to do the best I can. I’m just here for the team to try and support them the best I can. If they play me five times, then I’m ready to go five times. I don’t care how much it is.”
Maybe it’s because Day is now one of the elder statesmen for the Interationals—only Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama have appeared more—that he is embracing the team aspect. And he may feel a responsibility to boost up young and enthusiastic players such as Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, when Day says he didn’t get that kind of inspiration while making his first start in the Presidents Cup at home in Australia in 2011.
“I just think back when I first started out, I was pretty gung-ho about it, and I felt like there are some guys that just didn’t quite have the drive as much as some of the other guys,” Day recalled. “When not all are working towards a goal, then it hurts.”
After a four-point defeat in that first appearance in Australia, with Greg Norman as the captain, the Internationals lost by three points at Muirfield Village in 2013, and Day said he was apathetic about going to South Korea in 2015, despite enjoying a stellar PGA Tour season. It showed. He let his team down, going 0-4-1 in one of the closest finishes of the series, with the U.S. prevailing by a point.
“I felt disappointed in my game because I was number one in the world, and I just didn’t quite give the energy that I wanted to in that Presidents Cup,” Day said.
“I didn’t have as much drive as some of the other guys, and that kind of hurts the whole team environment. You’ve got to have all the guys pushing towards that goal of trying to win the Cup.”
Jason Day played for captain Greg Norman in his first Presidents Cup in 2011 – WILLIAM WEST
With a poor 5-11-4 overall record in the Presidents Cup, Day could do much to improve his team’s chances this time, and in speaking Tuesday, he seemed genuinely bullish on the Internationals’ chance at a long-sought turn of fortune.
“I feel like we have a tremendous team right now from top to bottom,” Day said. “In the past, I’m not sure if the numbers kind of stacked up as well. But this week I think the guys are more than prepared. We had guys play Napa [two weeks ago in the Procore Championship] and we had guys playing in the [DP World Tour] BMW last week. That’s a lot of commitment to go over and play the European team and then come back this way. Guys are ready to go out and play.”
“It’s nice,” Day said, “to have a team of guys that are willing to go that extra mile.”
And, yes, he understands the irony of that statement.
Main Image: Minas Panagiotakis
