Jason Day in doubt for Australian summer
BY Anthony Powter | 28 Nov 2007
Jason Day indicated this morning during a press conference that he might be doubt for the remaining of the Australasian Tour events because of a right wrist injury.
The injury forced Day to withdraw from next week’s Australian PGA Championship and he is now unsure about the Australian Open in a fortnight’s time.
“I’m not to sure how the Australian Open is looking at this stage,” remarked Day, who has not played golf since early October.
“I hurt my right wrist during the season and have done some re-hab on it and had a cortisone injection last month.”
The injury leaves the 20-year-old in quandary for the rest of the Australian season.
“I had to withdraw from the Australian PGA because of my wrist injury and I’m just seeing how it goes over the next few weeks. I was over working it too much, playing and going to the gym and ended up tweaking it a little bit and tore a tendon.”
Day remains optimistic the injury will not force him out of his PGA Tour season opener, the Sony Open in Hawaii and he has been seeing the same wrist specialist in America that treated Phil Mickelson’s injury.
“The wrist injury is healing and I should be ready for the Sony Open in January. I started chipping and putting a week ago, but it’s been two months at least, since the last time I hit a full shot.”
Day comes off a sensational maiden Nationwide Tour campaign, which included a victory in the Legend Financial Group Classic, a second in the Cox Classic and a third at the Xerox Classic.
The Queenslander secured his PGA Tour card after making the cut at 14 out of 19 events on the Nationwide Tour to finish 5th on the season’s Nationwide Tour money list with US$331,542.
With his focus on his maiden PGA Tour season, Day will approach the next few weeks cautiously. He’s indicated that unless his wrist feels 100%, he will not risk further aggravating the injury by playing the Australian Open.
“It’s really close [the wrist], I’ve no pain in it, but I just do not want to flare up anything just in case,” said Day.
“I’m hoping that I can play the Aussie Open, as it would be good to come back and play in Australia.”
Day’s finish on the Nationwide Tour money list was high enough for him to have a fixed schedule on the PGA Tour next season. It’s a luxury few rookies on the PGA Tour enjoy and it presents a real opportunity for him to pursue his goal of catching Tiger Woods.
“I set goals and one of them is to catch Tiger.”
“It’s going to be a big year for me next year and I want to play here in Australia, but I’ll see how it feels. There will be many other Australian Opens that I know I can play and I just do not want to risk it unless it’s right.”
“At the moment, I’ll say it’s between 80-90% there, it’s really close but I’m just hoping that it will heal.”
