THE SPIN16 Golf World August 2017
Thedeposedworldnumberone
on regaining top spot, facing
down golf’s fearless young
stars – and why length is not
everything in the modern game.Your mum’s battle with cancer
hasbeenwelldocumentedand
must have hung very heavily
overyou.Thefactshe’shad
successful surgery must be a
huge relief. Can you now focus
on playing and winning again?
Yeah,aseveryoneknows,she
went through a successful
surgeryonherleftlungandwas
toldshedidn’tneedtohavechemo,
which is really, really great.
Obviously we still have to be
cautiousbutitisagreatrelief.
Ifeelalotlighterinasensethat
my mind is not weighing very
much heavily on the situation
that my mom was going through.
To be able to have that happen
andthenfocusonmygame
againisquitenice.Youlosttopspotintherankings
to Dustin Johnson earlier this
year. Does that matter to you?
Of course it does. It bothers me,
not being number one. It’s very
stressful when you’re up there.
You’re in the limelight a lot.
You’vegotmorethingstodo
when you get to tournaments,
more things to do during your off
weeks. But I wouldn’t change
howitwasbecausethatwas
exactlywhereIwantedtobe.
Iwantedtotryandstayatthetop
foraslongasIcould,because
nothing beats that feeling, and
Iwanttogetbacktheretofeelit
allagain.Notbeingtopmotivates
metotryandgetbackthere.Injuries as much as anything
contributed to you losing top
spot. Which of those injuries
concerned you the most?
I think the thumb was probably
the most concerning for me.IactuallythoughtIwasgoingto
have to quit golf because of it
because I literally couldn’t hold
theclub.Ihadthreeinjectionsin
fourweeksinmythumb,andit
just never got any better, and
that’s a lot of cortisone
injections. They would pull the
thumb, so the knuckle could
expandandtheninjectin
betweentheknuckle.Andithurt
likehell,ithurtsobad.The
back’sneverbeenasmuchofa
concernbecauseIkindofknow
whattoexpectanditactually
gotbetter.Butforatime,not
knowing how bad the thumb
was was really concerning me.The youngsters coming through
nowseemmorefearlessthanin
previouseras.Isthatfairtosay?
Yeah,itseemslikethedynamic
of the actual player has changed.
They used to say that the
guys getting in their primes,
they used to call early 30s
young back in the day, and
now if you’re in your early 20s,
you’re young, but you’re not
afraid anymore. Back when
we were in the Tiger era, he
dominated so much that you
really forgot about the 20-yearolds that were winning those
events.Nowit’sdifferent.Now
we have a dynamic group of
youngguysthathaveall
different styles of games and the
waytheyplayislikefreshair
coming through the game. It’s
justgreattosee.What’s the key to winning in
2017?Howbigafactorisbeing
able to bomb it miles?
It’s obviously important but it’s
certainly not everything. I think
towinatthislevelyouneedto
be able to drive it well, you need
tohityourironswell,youneedto
wedgeitwell,andyouneedto
puttwell.Ifyoucandothose
things at the same time then
you’regoingtowinalot,
because you definitely need to
give yourself the opportunity
coming into the greens. I’m not
thelongestoutthere(heranked
15th in driving distance in 2016)
but I’m long enough to compete,
whichiswhatmatters.Aslongas
you hit fairways and give yourself
anopportunityfrom150yards
andin,yougiveyourselfa
chance as long as you have the
short game to take advantage
of that.Jason Day
Five
THE MAN
TO CATCH
Of the guys at the very
topoftherankings,ifI
hadtopickoneabove
allothersthenI’dsay
Rory.Whenhe’sonhe
can be unbeatable with
the way he drives it so
farandstraight.His
game is predicated on
his driving so if he’s
hittingitwelloffthe
tee he’s going to have
wedges into everything
andwhenhisironplay
is on it’s laser-like. He
justgetsinazone.
They’re all great players
at the top but yeah,
he’s the guy whose
game is probably most
similartomineand
Ifeellikechallenges
me the most.BURNING
QUESTIONS
‘Notbeingworldnumberonebothersme.It’s
what I wanted. Getting back there drives me on’