PGA Tour: The most dominant players of the West Coast Swing
By Bill Felber
Jason Day maintained only a casual relationship with the West Coast portion of the tour. He made just three starts, and one of them came at the Tournament of Champions.
Yet in none of those three did he finish worse than 13th, and his two land-based appearances – at the Farmers Insurance Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – both resulted in top 5 finishes.
Overall this represents good news for Day’s many fans, who spent 2017 wondering whether he would return to the form that once carried him to the top of the World Golf Rankings. His two 2018 victories offered some hope, although his showings in that year’s majors – none higher than a tie for 17th – made the question of his renewed dominance an open one.
Still, Day made a strong run at the Farmers, tying for fifth, although seven shots behind Justin Rose. That run continued at the AT&T Pebble Beach when his four-round total of 274 was good for a tie for fourth, six strokes behind Phil Mickelson.
At the AT&T, only a rocky third-round 72 undermined his chance of challenging Mickelson.
What Day has not yet done is put together the kind of dominant four-round performance he has shown himself on previous occasions to be capable of.