Jason Day Shows Remarkable Resilience to Deliver Solid Start at PGA Championship

Maybe Jason Day ought to find a chunk of New Jersey rock and plant it in his shoe, or try to crash one of the state’s many toll booths without a penny in his pocket.

Perhaps longtime caddie and mentor Colin Swatton could jab him in the eye with a sharp golf pencil.

After all, dealing with aggravation, discomfort, distraction and irritation seems to represent the world No. 1’s personal Grand Slam path to success.

In a sport where angst and stress are as much a part of the game as three-putts and wooden tees, Day once again proved that when it comes to eliciting superlative play, the more adversity that he faces, the better. 

Day, who has made aches and ailments part of his winning formula, opened his title defense of the PGA Championship on Thursday with a sparkling 2-under 68 to claim a spot in the top seven as the morning wave of players finished at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield Township, N.J. 

As ever, the Australian star has dodged a series of bullets this week, on and off the course, and managed to move into contention, nonetheless. For the player who led the 2015 U.S. Open after 54 holes despite nearly fainting from vertigo and has dealt with more medical issues than fans care to recall, this has become as familiar as an AC/DC lyric. 

This time around, because he had played in foreign locales over each of the last two weeks, Day didn’t turn up until Tuesday at Baltusrol—a course he had never before played. His wife, Ellie, had an allergic reaction to seafood at dinner on Tuesday night, prompting a call to paramedics and a post-midnight visit to the hospital emergency room.

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

His two young children are ill, and Day has been fighting the latest in a seemingly endless series of 2016 head colds, too.

“Things aren't going to be perfect all the time,” he said. “I enjoy having my family on the road. It's not the first time that the kids and myself and Ellie have been sick. It's not going to be the last time.” 

That could be the worst news of all for the others in the field. It seems like the more noise that Day hears, the more he tunes it out. Tuesday night, after dinner, was a case in point. His wife began to panic as she struggled to breath.

“She's like, ‘Call 911, call 911,’” he said, per ASAP Sports. “So I'm trying to look for Benadryl, and we didn't have any, so we ended up calling 911 and the paramedics came.”

At this point, Day could seemingly contend with a tourniquet around his neck. Translated: He’s got ‘em right where he wants ‘em. 

“It's speed bumps that you have got to try and slow down and get around,” he said. “Come out and execute.”

Facing a punitive course that has hosted nine major championships, Day’s handicaps weren’t merely physical. He was grouped on Thursday with former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who spent much of the day greeting hundreds of fans in the gallery a bit too closely, thanks to some errant shots. 

As the tournament’s online analyst, Brian Anderson, usually the play-by-play man for the Milwaukee Brewers, put it, Day was forced to “plow through the carnage around him.” At one point, Mickelson and McIlroy were both 4 over, and only two of the PGA Tour players on the course at that point were lower on the scoreboard. 

Day, on the other hand, posted about the highest score possible given the way he struck the ball from tee to green. He missed four birdie putts from 15 feet or closer on his front nine, including attempts from from four and eight feet. 

“I would assess it as right there,” Day told TBS, regarding the state of his game. “I drove it nicely, hit a lot of good, quality iron shots, but unfortunately didn’t really capitalize on the opportunities I had out there. 

“The last three weeks haven’t been the best putting display—just a little bit of work this afternoon to hopefully straighten that out.”

Day finished T14 last weekend at the Canadian Open and was T22 the week before at the Open Championship at Troon, which snapped a run of five straight majors in which he finished in the top 10. Last year at the PGA Championship, Day won his first major with a record 20-under total outside Milwaukee. 

Day only had one bogey Thursday, when he three-putted the fifth green from 65 feet.

In contrast, McIlroy’s short game was as hard on the eyes as his 74. He missed greens with a wedge in his hand and couldn’t get the ball close enough to the hole to capitalize on a fairly strong driving game. Alarmingly, he left birdie putts short of the hole from six and 11 feet. 

"Driving the ball as well as I have, ever, I think,” McIlroy said. “Iron play feels good. When I get on the greens, it's just a different story.”

McIlroy is famously skipping the Olympics because of the Zika virus, but there appears to be no remedy for the bug his putter already has contracted. Mickelson’s day was just as ugly at times, though he salvaged a 71 with three birdies on his back nine.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The set-up at Baltusrol skews to the players’ advantage on the back nine, which culminates with the only par-5 holes on the course at Nos. 17 and 18. Mickelson, who generally has devoured three-shot holes during his 25-year career, truly chopped up the last, which he birdied to win the PGA title by a shot 11 years ago.

Mickelson was spraying it all over New Jersey, finding only two fairways on the front nine. For a so-called “featured group,” only one player’s day was remotely notable.

As usual, Day managed to put a positive spin on another series of daunting obstacles. With the heat index rising and temperature index topping 90 degrees, his leisurely and late practice round might have been more helpful than hurtful.

“It was kind of a blessing really to come out yesterday, play 18 holes real quick and then get out of here,” Day said.

At this rate, he might leave Sunday night with another chunk of chrome for his trophy case back home. Or, failing that, another pill bottle for his medicine cabinet.

Steve Elling covers golf for Bleacher Report. You can follow him at @EllingYelling. All quotes via PGA Championship Media Center transcripts unless otherwise noted.