U.S. Open 2017: Jason Day falls far behind at Erin Hills
With high hopes entering the week, Jason Day fell far out of contention early at the 2017 U.S. Open.
Jack Nicklaus once famously said that you can’t win the U.S. Open on Thursday, but you sure can lose it. Shockingly, Jason Day seems to have done just that, opening his 2017 campaign with a seven-over round of 79, falling into a miserable tie for 151st place in a field of 156.
Day’s rise to the top of the golf world has been highlighted by his tremendous power. I’m not just talking about his prodigious drives, though. His transformation into one of the most mentally strong players in golf has been remarkable as well. In the days and weeks leading up to Erin Hills, he sounded more than prepared for the toughest test in golf.
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"“Emotional control is crucial at the US Open; getting over things quickly is important because you may have a double-bogey and feel like you’re out of the tournament, but you aren’t,” Day told AAP.“The biggest thing is you don’t have to be aggressive too often – pars are great, sneak a birdie in when you can and avoid the big numbers.”"
That last part – avoiding big numbers – proved to be deadly to Day on Thursday. He did sneak in four birdies on the day, but five bogeys and two astonishing triples took him far out of contention.
Day may be out of contention, but he won’t go down easily.
Day hit just nine of Erin Hills’ generous fairways for the day, and found himself in the thick fescue and treacherous bunkers on multiple occasions. He’ll open his day on Friday a full 14 shots behind leader Rickie Fowler, and seven from where the cut would be tonight.
The one bit of good news? Over the past five years, nobody has been a stronger player in the U.S. Open. Since 2012, Day has made all five Open cuts, and has four top-10 finishes. The world’s third-ranked player was working on the driving range at Erin Hills until nearly 8 p.m local time, and he’s clearly not going to go down without a fight.
Day will go off early in round two, rejoining Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy in the tenth group of the day. Winds will be a bit lighter on Friday, so scoring opportunities should still present themselves, if he can take advantage.
Day has a massive gap to overcome, one that is likely too large to make it to the weekend. We’ll see on Friday just how far his mental edge can carry him.
Next: Ernie Els turning back the clock at the U.S. Open
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