Austin, Texas — Day recaptured his World number one ranking on Saturday a day before he would go on to win the Dell Match Play tournament at Austin Country Club. The change in rank was after Jordan Speith (Former No. 1) fell out of contention on Saturday leaving Day to finish the tournament above him in overall points no matter of what position he finished in after Speith lost his match.
Day made the weekend sweeter by going on to defeat Rory Mcilroy (also a Former No.1) in Sunday morning’s matchup. The dramatic Semi-Final matchup was won on the 18th green with Day’s 12 foot par putt. Not the lowest of scores, but hole by hole Day outlasted Rory to go on to face Louis Oosthuizen in the Championship round.
“I couldn’t buy a birdie” said Oosthuizen regarding his less than remarkable championship round. But, Day should be thankful for Oosthuizen in regards that it was he, who took Speith out of the competition and allowed for Day to recapture the title of best golfer in the world (for the moment).
This all seems remarkable given that Day almost withdrew on the opening day because of a back ailment. Thankfully, Day reconsidered his decision and took the headlines this weekend.
Looking onto the next big question, who will win the 2016 Masters? Augusta is only 2 weeks away, and it’s the biggest major of them all. Rumors have been swirling the most talked about golfer who doesn’t golf, Tiger Woods. It was rumored that Woods had been spending some time recently at Augusta, possibly practicing for the chance at a 5th Masters title. But, unfortunately that rumor was quickly squashed by his agent.
Even if Woods doesn’t play, it figures to be a great tournament with names like Watson, Scott, Fowler, Mcilroy, Day, Speith as well as the aging, but surging of-late Phil Mickelson competing.
See if Day sustains this pace by watching the Masters on ESPN April 7-10.