The stars shine bright deep in the heart of Texas, and while the wheels were already in motion yesterday, another dominating performance by Jason Day at the WGC-Dell Match Play gave the Aussie his second straight PGA Tour title, and also sent him back to his perch as the No. 1 player in the game.
Day certainly fought for every win this week at Austin Country Club. After defeating Graeme McDowell 3-and-2 in Wednesday’s opener, Day’s troublesome back flared up on him again late in the day, and he said he was “just happy to get through” his Thursday match with Thongchai Jaidee.
It’s hard not to be happy when you open your day driving a 370-yard par-4, and end it with a 5-and-3 win, but considering that Day woke up on Thursday unsure about whether he’d even be able to finish the day, much less the tournament, things obviously could have gone much worse.
Match play is a different beast than your typical Tour event, and one that caters to an entirely separate skillset. Day has been there before, having won in a 23-hole thriller over Victor Dubuisson two years ago at Dove Mountain. But when you’re faced with the task of staring down a pair of major champions, one of whom is hot on your heels for the World No. 1 ranking, the dial goes to 11 pretty quick.
“It was very fun. It was very stressful, like I said yesterday, it was going to be stressful,” Day said following his epic one-up victory over Rory McIlroy in the semifinals. “There were moments where I think they’re the most fun, because I have to get up and hit the clutch putt at the right time. I wasn’t as tight from tee to green as Rory was. I just kept on saying I’ve got to frustrate him with my short game.”
While he may not have broken McIlroy or Louis Oosthuizen, who he beat comfortably in the championship match, Day’s outstanding play around the greens kept forcing his opponents to play for birdies — a winning formula in match play.
“He’s definitely at the moment a few steps ahead of everyone,” Oosthuizen said after the finale.
That’s the standard Day will carry into the Masters in ten days, and those few steps could be all the separation he needs to win his second straight major championship.
