KAPALUA, Maui » It’s hard to imagine anyone being disappointed with a 62, but Jason Day had a bemused expression etched on his face as he exited the scorer’s tent.
His 20-under 272 was the best in the clubhouse and would remain that way for the better part of two hours before Patrick Reed closed out the Aussie’s chances with a birdie at the last en route to winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
For the better part of three rounds, Day had all kinds of chances to lower his score, but failed to do so thanks to the difficulty of the Plantation Course greens. Through the first three rounds, no matter how close he nestled his iron shots to the hole, he had a hard time taking advantage of them often enough to secure the victory in this winners-only event.
"I was just talking to Ellie (his wife) last night because I was stressing," Day said. "I was just thinking about my putts and I’m like, ‘Why am I not holing putts?,’ because I feel like I’m hitting some pretty good ones. Starting the day at 9 under, I really didn’t have any nerves or anything like that because I was so far behind (eight shots) the lead.
"When I got out there, I felt good, I felt like I was hitting it great, and I just started rolling some putts. You know, two times I went out there and had four birdies in a row, and you know, I just don’t know. The mind-set was kind of like a blur. I was just kind of on autopilot and it felt great."
Day opened with four straight pars before birdieing the easy par-5 fifth. It was the first of four straight birdies and could have been five had he not missed a shorty at the par-5 ninth. He had seven birdies on the back nine, missing out only at Nos. 12 and 17 to shoot a blistering 30.
He caught a break at the par-5 18th when he hit a 1-iron toward the grandstands that bounced off the railing and ricocheted back into the fairway fronting the green. He was fortunate that shot didn’t end up in the weeds.
"Well, the hardest thing there is you have a severe downslope and you’re trying to hit a 1-iron into a left-to-right breeze," Day pointed out. "Everything down the left is a penalty, and I wasn’t ever going to miss left. So, I made sure that I missed it right and got a little lucky off the grandstand and followed it up with a good chip and putt."
This Monday performance should serve Day well at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. A tie for third here and a hot closing round gives him confidence entering the first full-field event of the 2015.
"It’s a funny game," Day said. "I left a couple out there early in my round. It’s all about inches. It could go either way. It’s a fine line from missing a cut and winning a tournament. I’m just glad that all the work that I put in during the offseason is paying off so early. And to be able to bring the confidence over from Tiger’s tournament and the Shark Shootout win to this tournament was special."
