With the PGA Championship around the corner, Jason Day says he is excited by a drastic improvement in his putting after shrugging off a brief bout of vertigo at the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship.
Day signed for an even-par 70 in the final round at TPC Potomac to finish the Washington DC area tournament at one-under-par. The Australian said he was glad a return of the vertigo – which caused him grief at the 2015 US Open – was only temporary. He refused to use it as an excuse for his poor third round at the Wells Fargo.
Day led the Wells Fargo through 36 holes at 10 under, only to shoot a disastrous 79 in round three to plummet out of contention. The former world No.1 said he experienced vertigo midway through the back nine on Saturday.
“Yesterday was disappointing; I didn’t feel that great yesterday and I had a bout of vertigo on the back nine,” Day told Australian Golf Digest after his final round. “I didn’t really feel that great going into yesterday; my warm up wasn’t good and then (vertigo) finally hit me on 14.”
At the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay, Day collapsed several times while experiencing vertigo but fought through to grab a share of the 54-hole lead that week before fading in the final round. He went on to win the PGA Championship two months later.
Like 2015, Day said this vertigo was linked to a chronic ear infection. “It’s ear related, but I played terrible golf in the 13 holes before it hit me yesterday,” he said.
However, the 12-time PGA Tour winner said he was buoyed by a superb performance with his ball-striking. Day ranked fourth in the field for strokes gained: tee to green at the Wells Fargo. And despite ranking 50th for putting, he felt a lot better than that on the greens.
“There is a lot of positive stuff moving forward,” Day said. “Today I hit a lot of good quality shots but I didn’t capitalise with the putter. I didn’t match up the speed with the good lines i was reading and I banged a few through the break.
The confidence is timely for the world No.127 given the PGA Championship at Southern Hills comes after he plays the Byron Nelson event in Texas next week.
“I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks; I think the game is moving in a really good direction and I’m starting to find find some confidence with all parts of my game.”
