Jason Day hits unwanted milestone

It was only a year ago that Jason Day was outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

The Australian was the world No. 1 in 2016, but his most recent major championship finish marked both his recent resurgence and recent struggles.

After a two-under-par 69 on Sunday at the Open, Day shot up to second place on the Royal Liverpool leaderboard but joined a club that nobody wants to be a part of.

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The 35-year-old recorded his first runners-up finish at golf’s oldest championship to complete an unfortunate ‘grand slam’.

Jason Day is now the ninth player in golf history to fill that spot in all four men’s major championships, joining some illustrious names.

His first taste of second place in the ‘big four’ came in 2011 at the Masters and US Open before following up at the 2013 US Open.

Besides Day on the list are Craig Wood, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, and Dustin Johnson.

The 13-time PGA Tour winner claimed his first and only major triumph to date at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits but has come agonisingly close since. 

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Day fell one stroke short of defending his title at Baltusrol the following year, although he had to wait until last week to finish so close again.

He opened his week at Hoylake with a one-over-par 72 before going five shots better to card 67 and shoot up the leaderboard.

A pair of two-under-par 69s followed, but it wasn’t enough to catch runaway leader Brian Harman.

Day, who was ranked as low as 175th last year, said he was still happy to finish runner-up as his confidence begins to build again.

He said: “Considering my play over the last month and a bit, it hasn’t been that great, and I didn’t have the greatest confidence coming into this week, but to be able to finish tied second was nice.

“At some point, I’m going to get off one and get my second one.”

Having started this year ranked 112th in the OWGR, Day recorded five top-ten finishes to climb his way back into the Masters, following a first break after 11 straight appearances.

Jason Day then claimed his first tour win in five years at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May to cap his remarkable resurgence.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.