IT HAS been a long time between drinks. In fact, the last time Jason Day teed it up at The Australian Golf Club, he wasn’t even allowed to buy one.
Both Day and the tranquil Kensington layout have changed, a lot, since his debut Australian Open in 2004. ‘The Oz’, as it is affectionately known, underwent a redesign during 2012 at the hands of six-time Australian Open winner Jack Nicklaus. Day, in the meantime, has bagged 10 wins on the US PGA Tour – among them his breakthrough Major title at the 2015 US PGA Championship. He’s married Ohio native Ellie, welcomed children Dash and Lucy into the world, and has spent a total of 51 weeks as the world’s No.1-ranked golfer.
But on the first tee at The Australian in 2004, he was merely a nervous 17-year-old who Australians had never heard of. Well, unless you were a hardcore golf fan who followed his win at the Callaway World Junior Championship at Torrey Pines several months earlier.
“I was pretty nervous,” Day tells Australian Golf Digest. “I didn’t feel I belonged, but I was invited because I was one of the better amateurs in Australia at the time. I just had to go out there and enjoy myself.”
‘Coming back to The Australian this year is going to be special.
Out of all the golf courses in Sydney, I think I like it the best’
– Jason Day
And he did. Rounds of 72-76-71-72 gave him a seven-over-par total, 10 shots behind Stonehaven Cup winner Peter Lonard. With a tie for 22nd place, low amateur honours saw Day invited to the 18th green ceremony alongside Lonard, runner-up Stuart Appleby and third-place ties Steven Bowditch and Rod Pampling.
“My main goal was to make the cut, and I did. But to finish leading amateur was a dream come true,” Day says. “I think it was myself, Lonard, Appleby, ‘Bowdo’ and ‘Pamps’ all up on stage. Being up there in front of all those people was neat. I thought, This is unreal.
“And it was right there that I knew I wanted to do it again. So coming back to The Australian this year is going to be special. Out of all the golf courses in Sydney, I think I like it the best.”
Day, who turns 30 the week before this year’s Open, says the 2004 championship was a double-edged sword. It instilled a belief that he was good enough to, one day, compete against the world’s best golfers on the US PGA Tour. But it also provided a stark reminder there was a whole lot of work to do before then.
“Finishing tied 22nd, it was confidence-inspiring because I remember looking around The Australian and there were guys like Nick O’Hern, Lonard, Appleby, John Senden and Geoff Ogilvy. They were all playing the PGA Tour; it was quite cool.
“From that week, I knew I had some game to play amongst those guys, but I didn’t feel I was ready to go out and play right then and there. I still felt like there was a lot of development needed in my game to be able to compete against those guys week in, week out.”
Bolstered by making the cut again as an amateur at the 2005 Open at Victoria’s Moonah Links, as well as victories at the Australian Amateur Stroke Play and Master of the Amateurs in 2006, Day would head for the bright lights of the US.
“When it came to making the decision a couple years later, the Australian Open helped me to choose turning pro 
instead of going to college and it ended up working out for me,” he says.
Day wouldn’t play his national championship for five years while he solidified his status as one of the US Tour’s hottest up-and-coming players. When he did return in 2011, bumper crowds flocked to The Lakes in Sydney to watch Day paired with 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods in the opening rounds before the Queenslander finished in a tie for fourth. Two years later at Royal Sydney, Day would again perform admirably, coming sixth behind 2013 Australian Open winner Rory McIlroy. Day also won the World Cup of Golf individual title and teams category with countryman Adam Scott at Royal Melbourne.
Two back injuries and the birth of Lucy have prevented the Ohio resident from returning to his homeland since then. In his absence, Jordan Spieth has lifted the Stonehaven Cup in 2014 and 2016, using both triumphs as a springboard to winning the 2015 Masters and US Open, as well as the 2017 British Open.
“It’d be nice to be able to beat Jordan Spieth down there and all the other great players from Australia,” Day says. “I’d love to win it this time ’round and on an iconic course like The Australian Golf Club would mean a lot. The Sydney crowds have always been really supportive of me. It’s great they’re going to see Jordan defend his title.
“Coming down to Australia has obviously been great for Jordan’s career; both times he’s won the Aussie Open he’s won (at least) a Major the next year.”
But rest assured, Day yearns to engrave his own name on the Stonehaven Cup. It’s one trophy the Beaudesert product feels is missing from his résumé. “Oh yeah, I definitely need it on there,” Day says. “It’s always been one tournament I’ve wanted to win; I grew up watching my favourite players contest it.
“The past three years I haven’t been able to go with injuries (2014 and 2016) and Lucy arriving (2015), but being able to go back this year I’m really looking forward to it.
“The potential for my name to be alongside names like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Greg Norman – all these guys are iconic players in our game that came down to play. That’s something I really want to be able to claim.
“The names on the Stonehaven Cup just makes the Australian Open … rich in history.”
