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.
Reader Comments (48)
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.
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.
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!
Bacon was a bit overdone, IIRC.
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-2016-open-at-royal-troon-best-duel-ever
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.
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
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.
Tedious.
Remember John Paramor at The Masters with Guan Tianlang and the uproar?
Poor little bugger didn't know the "rules".
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.
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.
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.
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.
As for slow play, can anyone offer up any proof that slow play on the PGA Tour has any direct financial impact, on anything?
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.
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.