First in, last out? Jason Day in grind mode entering this Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. – 2.

That’s the number that will be on Jason Day’s caddie’s bib, as No. 1 is reserved for the reigning champion and Day was the first person to register for this week’s Masters Tournament.

Day arrived at Augusta National on Friday, and while the Augusta National Women’s Amateur participants were wrapping up their practice rounds, Day was hitting balls in the tournament practice area. The next day, with the ANWA final round underway, he was doing much of the same.

So, what was he working on exactly?

“Do you have all day?” Day responded, before beginning a lengthy explanation:

“Well, so essentially, I was battling a two-way miss with my shoulders getting a little bit too horizontal or parallel to the ground. Once I start to rotate, my shoulders kind of level to the ground, my arms kind of go away from my body and I kind of dump it in the turf and I get like a right and a left. When I try and hit a draw and I miss it right, I don’t want to do that, then I get the pull hook left.

“Essentially, I’m just trying to stay better in the spine angle but get a little bit more pitch through my shoulders. That way my right arm can go under my body a little bit better.”

Day, who is grouped with Tiger Woods and Max Homa for the first two rounds, says he doesn’t see his instructor, Chris Como, a lot, but the two do chat on the phone nearly every day. While Day admits his swing will always be a “work in progress,” he’s in a better place than he was a year ago, when he tied for 39th in his first Masters start after missing the 2022 edition and failing to make the weekend in both 2020 and 2021.

Day, who owns three career Masters top-5s, enters this week No. 51 in strokes gained tee-to-green, though that is very much boosted by him ranking ninth around the green. He is No. 141 in strokes gained approach. Hence the extra work.

“I would love to taper off coming into this event, but unfortunately I’ve got to think about not only this event but the future events I’m going to play in,” Day said, “and sometimes you’ve just got to get in there and grind it out.”

And after he was done fielding questions, Day hopped off the interview podium and headed straight to hit more balls.