Leading champion Jason Day opened with a “modest” experience of falling to 151 in the world as his second consecutive 10th-place finish was a reminder of the gap he needed to achieve his goal of winning again on the PGA Tour.
Day climbed back into the top 100 and went on to finish fifth at the $29 million Phoenix Open, his best finish in over a year, as Scotty Scheffler climbed to the world No. 1 ranking with a two-run victory over Canada’s Nick. Taylor.
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World No. 3 John Ramm was on his way back and world No. 9 Justin Thomas was fourth, a shot behind Day, who after two solid matches to open 2023 announced he would duel the world’s best regular this year, and still has goals to be had. Top of the world again.
Some sympathy for the punished players | 01:17
The 35-year-old Queenslander, who opened his latest tour in Phoenix with three birdies to shoot three under 68s, has not won since taking two victories in 2018.
A combination of injuries and swing issues were behind the decline in his world rankings.
After nearly a decade hovering around the top of the rankings, Day reached the top in 2015 and again in 2016 when he was in the top spot for almost an entire year.
And Day revealed how hard he was going through the fall at a time that included his mother’s death after a battle with cancer.
“It was very humbling,” he said in Scottsdale.
“I was struggling with my body. Struggling mentally. Struggling with my mom’s death. Struggling with a lot of things.
“It’s hard because like you’re the best player in the world, everyone kind of knows you and does, and then all of a sudden you want to dump him trying to make cuts. It can be a tough process.
“It’s not an easy fall, but I feel like I was kind enough to a lot of the guys out there that the fall wasn’t too bad. Now I’m just trying to work myself back up.”
While returning to the No. 1 spot seems like a pipe dream for Day given the panoply of emerging young stars on the Tour, he insists the changes he’s made to his game and mental state bode well for the continued performance he’s set for in 2023.
“I just feel like it’s going to be from a different place going back to number one. You have to have that faith to be able to try and at least have that goal,” he said.
“If it doesn’t work, it won’t work. But that’s the goal in mind, try to get back to… well, get back to first place.”
“If I win this year, great. If I don’t, I have to keep working.”
While the day in Phoenix has passed, New South Welshman Ryan Gibson has taken a huge step toward regaining his playing privileges on the PGA Tour with a four-shot win at the Korn Ferry Tour event in Colombia.
Gibson, whose last win came on the same Tour in 2019, started the day with a final lead shot at the Astara Golf Championships before clinching with an eagle victory on a final hole.
“I’ve been working it out this fall and winter, kind of getting my game in shape,” he said.
“The match felt good coming here. I love the setting. I knew I could run wild and a good run yesterday put me in contention.
Going out and doing what I did today was just crazy.”
The win should propel Gibson to third place on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, giving him the best possible basis for paying for one of the 25 PGA Tour cards handed out at the end of the season.
Streaker causes splashes at Phoenix Open | 00:52
