CROMWELL, Conn. – Jason Day had just finished his Wednesday pro-am round at the Travelers Championship when he met a small scrum of reporters behind the ninth green at TPC River Highlands. One of them asked about his missed cut at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills last week, the latest misfire in what has so far been a decidedly underwhelming season. Day said he got a text afterward from Tiger Woods, who was watching from home. “He said, ‘Before you go out and work on something, call me. I saw something,’â€� Day said. “I’m like, Yeah, you saw 79 shots.â€� Day laughed. “I never called him; I was too angry.â€� At least he can laugh about it. This week’s Travelers Championship boasts one of the most star-studded fields ever thanks to the presence of first-timers Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, plus Day, who played here in 2014 (T18) and 2008 (T27). All three, though, are sleeping giants, looking to rouse themselves before the Open and PGA Championships, and the FedExCup Playoffs. Day is fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking but 45th in the FedExCup. McIlroy is third in the OWGR but 69th in the FedExCup after a rib injury limited him to just seven starts prior to this week. And Spieth, fourth in the OWGR and sixth in the FedExCup — he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am among his six top-10 finishes — is fighting his putter. Unlike Day and McIlroy, he at least made the cut at last week’s U.S. Open, ultimately finishing T35. All three have been ranked No. 1 in the world, and two of them — Spieth and McIlroy — have won the FedExCup. All three have won a major. Day has won THE PLAYERS Championship. And yet this season has been a reminder that life and injuries sometimes play through, and form can be maddeningly fickle for almost everyone. “I always felt ’17 was going to be a bit of a transitional year,â€� McIlroy said, “with, obviously, Nike going out of the golf equipment business and getting married, moving and changing residences, and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t factor an injury into that as well.â€� Day didn’t plan on his mother Dening getting diagnosed with lung cancer. He didn’t hit as many balls as usual, as he didn’t feel like being on the course. “I’m about a month behind on my workload,â€� he said Wednesday. He withdrew from the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, but she rallied after surgery, and Day saw an uptick in his game. Or at least he thought he did. After finishing second to Billy Horschel in a sudden-death playoff at the AT&T Byron Nelson, he got off to a poor start at his hometown tournament, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (T15). He came completely unglued at Erin Hills, spending too much time in the fescue (Day is 144th on TOUR in driving accuracy). Then there’s Spieth, whose issues are on the green. Ninth in strokes gained: putting (.571) during his monster 2015 season, which culminated in his hoisting the FedExCup, he rose all the way to second in that stat (.758) last season. This year he’s 40th (.351). “Tee to green everything has been there,â€� Spieth said. “I’ve been working on the putting, trying to develop a feel that I can use consistently and kind of not have to think about the stroke and setup and instead focus on the line and speed, which I have not been comfortable doing.â€� Still, all three players know it only takes one week to turn things around. “The U.S. Open can zap your confidence a little bit,â€� said McIlroy, who will tee off at 7:50 a.m. Thursday with Brian Harman (10th in the FedExCup) and Jim Furyk (58 in the final round here last year). “So it’s nice to come back to a venue where you can see shots going close to the hole, you can see putts going in, you can make birdies. Sometimes you need that.â€� Said Day, who will play right behind them, in the 8 a.m. group with Patrick Reed and Justin Thomas, “I have a pretty good record here.â€� Spieth, who will tee off alongside Wesley Bryan and Brandt Snedeker at 1 p.m., said good word-of-mouth brought him to Hartford: “I was kind of in between what I’m going to do scheduling-wise after the U.S. Open, before the Open Championship,â€� he said. He asked around: “‘What do you think about the Travelers? I haven’t played there,’â€� Spieth said. “And it was universal. It was all positive comments from every player I asked.â€� The hole needs to open up for Spieth, and the fairway needs to show itself for Day, who leads the TOUR in strokes gained: around the green. McIlroy just needs to play. The course is still soft from Monday night’s torrential downpour, and should yield plenty of birdies. Two majors have come and gone, and two remain. Three WGCs have come and gone, and one remains. The FedExCup Playoffs and Presidents Cup loom ever larger on the horizon. For Day, Spieth and McIlroy, there’s no better time than the present to find their mid-season form.
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