Jason Day: The Real #1?
Back in the 1960’s, Arnie, The Golden Bear and the Black Knight formed golf’s version of “The Big 3.” Those aren’t comic book characters but three of the greatest golfers of all time. In 2015, a new Big 3 have arrived, and they’re so fresh they haven’t even been given nicknames yet. Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day have separated themselves from the field as golf’s elite. However, the 3rd ranked player in the world might just be the best of them all.
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Jason Day has announced his presence as arguably the best golfer on the planet. Day has won 3 of his last 4 tournaments, including consecutive wins at the PGA Championship and the Barclays. That ups his total to 4 wins in 2015, tied with Spieth for the most on tour. McIlroy has an admirable 2 victories in his own right.
Nobody has been hotter than Day in recent months. He has 5 straight top 10 finishes, including his heroic performance back in June at the U.S. Open. Day placed 9th while battling a crippling case of vertigo and was in contention all week.
Day is in the midst of 20 rounds of par or better (PGATour.com), a stat where only Patrick Reed has more at 21 rounds. Last week at the Barclays, the field struggled with the difficult par 4’s in Edison and posted an average score of 1 over par. Day played those same par 4’s at 15 shots UNDER par. Not bad.
Since the Open Championship, where he finished in a tie for 4th place, no one has come close to matching Day’s total scoring. Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson are his stiffest competition:
We will give Rory the wild card because of his injury earlier in the season, but it seems that Day has provided more bang for your buck in 2015. Spieth has the same amount of wins while he has played 18 more rounds than Day has this year.
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Day has a better birdie average (4.72) than Spieth, and is also hitting more greens in regulation (9th on tour). For the record, in the tournaments he has played in this year, McIlory has a better birdie average then both Spieth and Day. But I digress . . .
Now everyone knows that athletes are judged by the number of “championships” they’ve won. And golf’s equivalent to that stat is performance in majors. Spieth has two this year, Day has only one. But are we going to pretend that Day wouldn’t have been in that final group at the U.S. Open if he could have even walked straight? And I think some guy, who shall remain nameless because he’s my “fav,” gift-wrapped the win for Spieth.
Oh and if you’d ever like to get into a “debate” over who the best quarterback of all time is, I’ll dare you to leave Dan Marino off that list. Some guy named Patrick Ewing was a half-way decent baller in his day. And for the love of God, don’t tell me you think Eli is better than Peyton. Just . . . don’t.
The bottom line is that it’s become clear who are the best 3 players on the planet. There are a couple Johnsons that show up every once in a while. And some lefty with a pink driver tries to rustle some feathers on occasion. But if Day, Spieth and McIlroy are on their respective games, hand one of them the trophy and call it a Day. Pun was definitely intended . . .
Next: Jason Day's Unlikely Journey to the Top
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