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Tuesday
Jan032017

Jason Day Intends To Get Back To The Painfully Slow Play That Made Him Great

It's comforting that no matter how much you question any petty self-indulgences you can look to Jason Day for reassurance. Because whatever narcissistic traits you think you might have, Day's going to outdo them!

A man who has held up play both with his painful form of self-indulgent slow play and regular injury situations has declared he intends to indulge us in more slow play.

Ben Everill at PGATour.com shares the warped logic that the world No. 1 shared during his first press session post Nike-$igning.

“I think there were a couple things that I didn't do as well the second half in the season. I wasn't as deliberate going into a golf shot. Gathering the information, I wasn't as deliberate,” Day said as he looks to make his 2017 FedExCup debut at the SBS Tournament of Champions.

Yes, the world watched you and thought, he's rushing!

“Obviously, everyone wants to speed up the game. Obviously, that's a big subject in golf, to speed up the game. But in my opinion, I don't care so much about speeding up my game. I've got to get back to what makes me good.”

And unlikable!

This is also a first, a player bragging about no getting "overly timed." Nice way to free up the John Paramor's of golf to penalize you...

“I didn’t care what people thought and I played better. But I still played fast enough, I wasn’t overly timed, and I played some good golf. I hit a lot more fairways and greens because of it.

"I just have to make sure I am deliberate but still respect other players."

Just do it (slower)!

Oh, and if you're interested in an update on his ailments, Jeff Babineau covers that and other comments from Day as he prepares to start the season in Maui.

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Reader Comments (48)

A classic case of overthinking. Has he been talking to Phil?
01.3.2017 | Unregistered Commenterol Harv
Find it quite shallow that someone would not "like" another person based on how quickly or slowly they might hit a golf shot.
01.3.2017 | Unregistered CommenterHal
Wow angry much?
01.3.2017 | Unregistered CommenterJoe
Seems very impressed / obsessed with the whole "World Number One" thing.
01.3.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBrianS
Find it quite admirable that someone would not "like" another person based on how quickly or slowly they might hit a golf shot.
01.3.2017 | Unregistered CommenterDavidC
A player brags about being put on the clock only a few times.

Only Jason Day wouldn't realize that its embarrassing to be put on the clock once. I sure hope this opens him up to more pace of play scrutiny. What a selfish man.
I always thought Day was a likeable chap. I was wrong. This and the way he's ditched his homeland shows him up as a complete asshole.
01.3.2017 | Unregistered CommenterJohn
Won't matter on the PGA Tour- because unless the new commissioner is very different they won't do a thing about it. Might be different if some of our refs are allowed to do their job with him.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterChico
The sentences on L4-5 injury in the Babineau article are interesting. Day can't go at the ball as hard as he is, for very much longer. He needs to change his swing a little, and perhaps his approach too. Not every swing needs to be 100%. Of all this, there can be little question, irrespective of his putting, schedule, or core strength.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterMatthewM
"Find it quite shallow that someone would not "like" another person based on how quickly or slowly they might hit a golf shot."

Day is being paid by sponsors due to the fact they believe he is "likable", among other things. Day doesn't really care why you spend money because of him, just that you do. Ergo, not liking him due to his pace of play is certainly fair game.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterPat(another one)
Jason Day is not going to have a long career but he will have a painful one because he persists in separating the upper and lower halves of his body during his swing. If he wants to save his back he needs to make a simple adjustment to his swing.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBuffett
Buffett. What would that change entail?
01.4.2017 | Unregistered Commentermetro18
He speeded up?
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterCenter Cut
Center Cut.
I was asking about the swing change Buffett was alluding too.
As to the slow play debacle - Yes I agree. I really don't get the angst about the shot penalty for being over time.
The rule is there - why is it not enforced? Chico?
For God's sake PGA Tours everywhere - just bloody do it!
01.4.2017 | Unregistered Commentermetro18
Jason All-Day was "not as deliberate going into a golf shot"? Odd, I do not recall having to speed up my trip to the kitchen when he was preparing his shot. Made a BLT once while he was "not as deliberate".

Bacon was a bit overdone, IIRC.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterLateral Hazard
A touch off topic, but in the really excellent "Oral History" of this past year's Open at Troon (Final Round), Bones mentions that a rules official approached him around the 13th hole to ask him to inform the players that they needed to speed up to catch up to the group in front of them. (Stenson is another pretty "deliberate" guy, I don't think in the category of Day though). Bones said that he pushed back a bit to the official, then declined to inform the players of the request, which I thought was pretty ballsy on his end.

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-2016-open-at-royal-troon-best-duel-ever
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBrianS
Is there any sort of informal data that captures players times? Like a fan created database? I think there needs to be some groundswell or something. You cannot correctly work for change without the data.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterStreaky Putter
Oh great. Just as it appears that Jordan Spieth is attempting to shorten his painfully long pre-shot routine, Jason Day announces that he's going to make every round a 5 hour ordeal. One step forward, two steps backwards.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterGreg
I'll start judging their pace of play when I can beat them. That's not going to happen.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterJupiter
At some point, the long time in preparing for a shot will start to hurt him and he'll have trouble pulling the trigger on a shot. Too long of pre-shot routine can force someone to end up "rushing" their shot.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterDave
@BrianS, I don't blame Bones for pushing back - why would he do something that might distract his player / boss?

Quite frankly, I'm surprised that a rules official would ever approach a caddy for anything. Shouldn't the official have gone directly to the players? I know there are referees on this site, is this a common occurrence to approach a caddy in this situation?

As for Jason Day, he took over the nickname of All Day for me some time ago, and I certainly didn't notice him take less time over shots in the past year.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBDF
Jason Day. What an apt surname for this golfing slowpoke. If it were in my power, I would order him to play golf everyday in a Scottish winter. That'll 'learn 'im'!!!
01.4.2017 | Unregistered Commentergaelgowfer
Remember, he claimed that his family was so poor, that his mom cut the lawn with a knife.

The Days have a history of doing things slowly.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/533300/sports/othersports/how-pinay-mom-s-sacrifice-paved-way-for-jason-day-to-become-pga-champion
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterAbu Dhabi Golfer
@ Metro18. The PGA Tour doesn't think slow play is a problem. I've worked a lot with Steve Cox who now works with the PGA Tour. He was told at his first event to put his stopwatch in his bag as the players would find it intimidating! Something along the lines of- we don't want to ruin somebody's round with a stopwatch. Over here the slow play rule is adhered to and enforced and times have been coming down recently. Unfortunately if you have half a brain and understand how the rule works it is quite difficult to get yourself a penalty. The players committee have to ratify this rule- and turkeys don't vote for Christmas! Incidentally if Day backs off his shot unless it was because he was disturbed- rather than indecision- then the clock should not be stopped.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterChico
@ BDF - I'm pretty much retired now- but I can't think of any reason I would ever speak to the caddie before I spoke to the player.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterChico
@metro18. The simple change would be to STOP separating the upper and lower halves to alleviate the stress on the lower back.

Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, John Daly and Vijay Singh have all won majors and been among the longer hitters among their peers in their day - all without swinging in a way that was going to destroy their lower backs. Since they figured it out, perhaps Day is not being guided correctly when it comes to swing mechanics.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBuffett
Day and Spieth are an advertisers nightmare, because once you have gotten past the initial two holes of caddyspeak, you simply start fast forwarding on everyone of their shots, including right through the folllwong commercials to the point of contact, ball flight, landing and settlement.

Tedious.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterCenter Cut
Thanks Chico.
Remember John Paramor at The Masters with Guan Tianlang and the uproar?
Poor little bugger didn't know the "rules".
01.4.2017 | Unregistered Commentermetro18
I don't think pace of play will ever be forced on the American PGA Tour. But should I be wrong, I feel pretty safe in assuming that there will be plenty of additional names added to the list of the usual suspects. It goes beyond a few star players who seem to capture more of the limelight airtime than everyone else.

And perhaps, deep down, this is the primary reason why the tour is hesitant to deal with it. If it was a case of just maybe 2-3 players, it would be easier to hand out penalties. But a majority of the guys at that level are slow. A majority of us only see what television affords us.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterPA PLAYA
@BDF - I agree with Bones for pushing back, but to take on his own shoulders the decision to not tell the players was pretty strong on his end, and certainly well done IMHO.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterBrianS
Selective prosecution much? Isn't Spieth the slowest player on the PGA Tour? People say his putting success in the past was dependent on extremely slow play in order to read the greens well. Let's rank 'em all by the relevant statistics for slow play.

This seems a bit overly harsh on Mr. Day. One thought / guess Is that some people are subconsciously annoyed that Day switched to Nike clothing.
I'd rather watch the LPGA than him or Spieth. And did anyone watch the Nike ad with him choosing to live in Ohio? Gag.
"He cracked the head of his driver at the U.S. Open, sending him scrambling to find the right feel in a replacement"

It's stunning that these guys don't have exact duplicate backups of every club.


"Also contributing to his back stability was a swing that grew longer in 2016, which added more speed, turn and stress."

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But Day couldn't leave well enough alone after winning the 2015 PGA.
Wow, continuously impressed with the amount of whining on here. I watch a *lot* of golf and the pace of play of almost every player does not bother me that much. I find the little pre-routine club bounce Matsuyama does a bit annoying when you just want him to get on with it, but that's about it.

Look, we watch these guys because they are amazing golfers. Part of the intrigue is preparing for the shot, the anticipation - have none of you ever watched an American football game or a baseball game? They can take all the time they want as far as I'm concerned. When you're playing for millions of dollars with thousands watching in person and millions on TV, I think you've earned the right to fully contemplate what you're about to do unless it's truly egregious. Any of us hacking around at the local club can speed the hell up because no one cares what we are doing. There's a pretty sizable difference, here.

Am I the only one who watches Snedeker get up to the ball and hit it so fast it's almost jarring? I want to savor the anticipation of the shot for a few seconds longer.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered Commenterjly
@Pat, your post is complete nonsense.

As for slow play, can anyone offer up any proof that slow play on the PGA Tour has any direct financial impact, on anything?
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterHal
@jly, your post is complete nonsense.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterMarky Mark
Jason, particularly the last 4-5 years, has become a notoriously slow player. And now... the fact that he felt empowered enough to go on record stating that he expects to be put on the clock more this season truly signifies just how spineless the Tour is with enforcing pace and how meaningless the policy really is, that there is now a precedent with a player stopping short of daring the tour brass to do anything about it, basically.

This was one of those situations where even if he truly plans on going back to his 2-minute snooze routine and playing slow this season - he gained absolutely nothing by admitting it openly.

He just basically mocked the tour brass, that's what it all comes down to. He's #1 in the world, feels privileged, and now feels like the tour needs him more than he needs the tour. There's no other way that comes across, to me anyway.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterPA PLAYA
PA don't you think he's pretty much right on all counts?
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterVT
VT - no, not at all.

Jason has never struck me as one who maintains an entitled, privileged attitude, but when any player comes out and says something like that - that they expect to be put on the clock more because they're going to add more time to their already-slow routine - that's basically what comes to my mind.

Besides mocking the tour brass, he was also subtly informing the sports writers that they might as well not waste their ink writing about his slow play this season. It's not gonna get better, and besides - the tour ain't gonna do anything about it.

Everybody already knows the tour will never speed these guys up, it's not been on their list of priorities the past two decades and nobody expects that to change. But too - we've never (not that I know of anyway in the 30 years I've been following pro golf) had a player come out at the start of a season, a slow player at that, who had the audacity to go on record saying he's gonna play even slower.

I think it's actually pretty pathetic, for both him and the tour brass.
01.4.2017 | Unregistered CommenterPA PLAYA
I stopped watching golf on tv long ago. I watch a week later on Youtube. Only the shots. At my club a walking fourball of old people takes about 4 hours. Ladies too. A skill is measured in quality and speed. Ever had a school test with unlimited time? If you cannot get a round of golf done in 4 hours, your skill level is too low, mr. Day.
01.5.2017 | Unregistered CommenterLifeIsTooShort

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