PGA Championship: Major winners are made here

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Torrey Pines specialist Jason Day is in danger of missing the U.S. Open at the iconic coastal venue and could leave next week’s PGA Championship, or this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, at any stage for the birth of his fourth child. The Australian has always put family first and said wife Ellie is due in early June but hits full term on her pregnancy this Friday, leaving him on call for an early departure as he looks to recapture past success in Texas. The last time he missed a major – the 2012 Open Championship – was for the birth of Dash, the couple’s first child. “If I’m playing golf, whatever, it doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure that I see the birth of our fourth child … I could get a call this week or next week. Ellie’s two to three centimeters dilated and 15% effaced, and her belly has already dropped. In the next four weeks it can come,” Day said. “If it happens to be on Sunday at a major championship where I’m in contention, it happens. You got to do it. I’m not going to miss it because I’m in contention. It would be nice to win, but family is forever.” The former Dallas resident claimed the first of his 12 PGA TOUR wins at the 2010 AT&T Byron Nelson and has four top-10s from his five tournament appearances – the sort of success he desperately needs if he’s to find his way into the field for June’s U.S. Open. While the PGA Championship comes sooner, Day circled the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on the calendar as soon as it was announced in 2014 – a year before he would win the first of his two Farmers Insurance Open’s at the San Diego venue. He had finished runner-up at Torrey just a few months earlier and having won a Junior World title there as a kid the former world No. 1 had always loved the venue. His passion grew over time, particularly as he watched Tiger Woods win time and time again on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, including his epic triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open. But despite finishing inside the top five in half of his 10 U.S. Open appearances, the 33-year-old is yet to be exempt for the tournament and at 62nd in the world rankings sits on the outside looking in as key qualifying dates approach. Day must find a way inside the world top 60 on either May 24 (after the PGA Championship) or June 7 (after the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide) to qualify as he’s already stated he does not intend to join sectional qualifying in his hometown Columbus because of a sponsor conflict. “I haven’t even thought about missing a major championship in a very long time. I’m obviously on the border of missing (Torrey). I’ve got to play well in the next two weeks,” Day said. “Obviously I would love to play the Torrey Pines U.S. Open because I’ve had a lot of success around that golf course.” His 2021 has been far from stellar thus far and he suits up in Texas off two straight missed cuts and with just one top-10 (T7, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). Day admits his confidence has taken a hit as distractions puncture his game and his once dominant putting prowess has waned. The 33-year-old has returned to work with former mental coach Jason Goldsmith, who was with him during his near year-long stint as world No. 1 in 2015-16, as he looks to rediscover some old swagger. First step is getting through the moments of doubt and finding love in the grind again. “I’m just trying to build that confidence. I feel like my game is starting to come around nicely and I’m starting to feel good about it,” Day said. “I know I’ve got to keep persisting. If I don’t do it, it’s not going to be enjoyable for me. If it’s not enjoyable for me, I may as well retire. I can’t play the way that I’m going and beat my head against a wall, essentially. “But, then on the other hand I’m like, ‘No, you can’t quit. You got to keep pushing, stay persistent, stay positive, patient, keep moving forward,’ and it’ll come back. Right now I’m trying to do that.”

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Tyrrell Hatton endured one of the toughest tests on TOUR to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. It’s the first win on American soil for the 28-year-old Englishman. Let’s take a closer look at his win and the week that was at Bay Hill. RELATED: Hatton keeps his cool at Bay Hill | What’s in Hatton’s bag? 1. FOUR!: Hatton’s winning score was 4-under 284. It matches the highest winning score on TOUR in the past 10 years. Hatton also is the first player since Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 U.S. Open to win with two over-par rounds on the weekend. 2. HALF AND HALF: The field hit 50.5% of the greens in regulation at Bay Hill. That’s the lowest percentage of greens hit in an event on the PGA TOUR since the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Hatton hit just 42 greens, but that still ranked ninth in the field (he was second in Strokes Gained: Approach, as well). It was the fifth-fewest greens hit by a winner since 2010. 3. CLOSER: Tyrrell Hatton played Nos. 17 and 18 in 3-under-par for the week, gaining nearly six strokes on the field on those two holes alone. It was the best score on those two holes by a Bay Hill winner not named Tiger Woods. 4. FIVE FOR FIGHTING: It was a difficult weekend for Rory McIlroy, who shot a final-round 76. He started the day in second place, but fell into a tie for fifth. It was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive top-5 finish. He’s finished in the top-5 in more than half hist starts since last season, the best rate on TOUR by a wide margin.

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