[Photo: Getty images]
Jason Day says reuniting his wildly successful partnership with swing coach Colin Swatton has helped him fall in love with putting again on the eve of the elite Players Championship.
The 2016 Players winner Day last week revealed he had linked back up with Swatton after a five-year absence. Day met Swatton when he was a high school prodigy in Queensland. Swatton served as Day’s caddie and coach on the PGA Tour as his pupil rose to world No.1 and won a maiden major at the 2015 PGA Championship.
“The team is doing great and it feels like the good old days; everything in my game is trending really well,” Day told Australian Golf Digest on Wednesday after a practice round at TPC Sawgrass with fellow Australian Min Woo Lee.
The 13-time PGA Tour winner Day said his putter – which was once a weapon – felt good again after a top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. “Definitely putting,” Day said of Swatton’s most immediate impact. “We changed a few things in my setup and I was starting putts on a better line with better speed control. Last week at Bay Hill was a nice result.”
Day also wants to wind back the clock to his vintage best, when he drove it long and straight and used his elite short game and world-class putting to keep him in tournaments. He admits to chasing perfection and supreme ball-striking during the past few years. “I’d love to be able to strike it like [world No.1 and defending Players champion] Scottie Scheffler or [four-time major winner and 2018 Players champ] Rory McIlroy but it’s not who I am as a player,” Day said. “I have always scrambled and clawed away at other players’ leads and then when I’m striking it well, I’m typically in contention and winning.”
That’s exactly what Day plans to do this week at TPC Sawgrass as he chases a first tour win in almost two years and as the majors season approaches with the Masters at Augusta National in mid-April.
“In my world, everything is going great,” Day said of his game and his team. “I’m coming off a good result at Bay Hill. I’m looking forward to TPC Sawgrass and Augusta National. It’s a great time of year in golf.”
Day is one of five Australians in the field at TPC Sawgrass alongside Adam Scott, Lee, Cam Davis, and Karl Vilips. Day will play the first two rounds (round one tee time 8.46am local/11.46pm AEST and round two 1.51pm local/4.51am AEST with Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth.
2025 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP:
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler (USA)
PRIZEMONEY: US$25 million ($A40 million)
LIVE SCORES: https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
TV COVERAGE: THE PLAYERS Championship is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
*All times AEST.
Round 1: Thursday 10:30pm-10am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Round 2: Friday 10:30pm-10am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Round 3: Saturday 10:30pm-10am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Final Round: Sunday 10:30pm-9am (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
HEADLINERS
Scottie Scheffler: World No. 1 and two-time defending champion
Rory McIlroy: 2019 THE PLAYERS champion
Collin Morikawa: Two-time major champion
Sepp Straka: FedEx Cup leader and three-time Tour winner
Russell Henley: 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner
Jason Day: 2016 THE PLAYERS champion
Karl Vilips: 2025 Puerto Rico Open winner
