Jason Day knows all about being the No. 1 player in the world, having held the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for 51 total weeks between September 2015 and February 2017, the last 47 of which came in consecutive fashion.
So, when he sees how Scottie Scheffler has handled such a pressure-packed and prestigious place in the golf world, he can't help but be impressed, especially recently as the current world No. 1 has won three of his last four starts, taking titles at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the PGA Championship, and, most recently, the Memorial Tournament.
Unfortunately, due to a wrist injury, Day was unable to compete at the Memorial this past week, which stung a bit more than the other withdrawals he's been forced into this season, as he's a member at Muirfield Village and lives mere minutes from Jack's Place.
But that doesn't mean he wasn't watching.
I had the chance to chat with the 13-time PGA Tour winner the morning after the Memorial, and after we discussed the status of his wrist as he prepares for his return at next week's U.S. Open, we delved into Scheffler's dominance and how Day is using it as fuel for his own game.
Jason Day is motivated watching Scottie Scheffler dominate the PGA Tour
I explicitly asked Day if there's any extra pressure entering a tournament as the top-ranked player in the world, and he certainly didn't hesitate in responding in the affirmative. And it's because of that pressure that he admires what Scheffler has been able to do over the past few years.
"It is difficult," Day said. "There is added pressure, but he is also playing with all the confidence in the world. It seems like every single week, he's either in the top five or winning.
And he's certainly right about that. In the start Scheffler didn't win in the last month, he tied for fourth at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. It was at that point in the conversation where I jumped in and said how ridiculous it was, to which Day agreed and went on to say Scottie is on his way to one of the greatest careers this game has ever seen.
"It sounds ridiculous, but it wasn't too long ago that Tiger Woods was still out there. It was every single week that Tiger was doing the same thing. It is impressive to see.
"You have generational players, and obviously we have a generational player right now in Rory McIlroy, who's won 29 times [on the PGA Tour]. But it seems like we're getting just the start of a potential career that could be one of the best of all time with the way Scottie is playing.
"Granted, it is early, and careers are long. Golf is a funny sport where you can have injuries over time; things change, priorities change as well in your life, and you get a little disrupted. But he seems like he's so focused, so balanced.
"The hard thing about being No. 1 is being a very balanced person and not having too much stuff go on in the background that can disrupt you from being the player you are. And with Scottie, he's just so competitive. I mean, it just seems that he wants it. You can tell that there's something just a little bit different about him than most guys.
"He just doesn't get too high or too low and does the exact right things you need to do on the golf course. He handles the stress and the pressure of being No. 1 in the world, with all the disruptions that come along with it; he handles it great. He's a good guy off the golf course. It's very hard to find something you don't like about him."
We had a good laugh when I threw in that the other players might not like how Scheffler collects the winner's paycheck, but Day also said that it's good for the game as a whole—and his own golf game as well.
"That's good for us. I've been saying this for a while, but golf was missing a dominant player, and I think we're getting that with Scottie. It's very motivating to watch him because it's like, dang, we've gotta step up our game. He's just wiping the floor with everyone right now."
Jason Day is thrilled to see the success Ben Griffin has had recently
From there, the conversation shifted to the second-hottest player in the world right now, Ben Griffin, whom Day has gotten to know well due to the fact that both are ambassadors for TruGreen, which is the official lawn care treatment provider for the PGA Tour.
To that end, if you haven't seen the spots with these guys, you're missing out.
As far as golf goes, Griffin has been on fire, winning his first two PGA Tour titles over the last six weeks, first at the team-oriented Zurich Classic of New Orleans and then on his own at the Charles Schwab. He also tied for eighth at the PGA Championship and just took solo second to Scheffler at the Memorial.
And Day is absolutely loving it. What's wild is that before this season began, Griffin, who was the 91st-ranked player in the world at this time last year and had certain status issues, was considering going overseas in order to get more starts.
"Oh, Griffin's playing great," Day said. "I mean, the guy loves playing golf. We were shooting a TruGreen commercial in Florida (the one posted above), and we were talking about scheduling. Ben was like, 'Yeah, I'm gonna play like 35 events.'
"It's unbelievable how many tournaments he plays, and he was even thinking about playing the European Tour. I'm not sure if he actually joined the DP World Tour, but I know he was thinking about it because he wanted to play more.
"I think, honestly, as a TruGreen ambassador, it's nice to see. I see him every so often when I'm playing, and he's obviously kicked it on, winning the Zurich Classic and then the Colonial. And he obviously just played great here [at the Memorial] against the No. 1 player in the world, giving himself a shot."
Given everything he's done in 2025, Griffin, who's No. 15 in the world, now has no need to jump to the DP World Tour with his exempt status here in the U.S. for the next few years. So, we'll certainly be seeing a lot more of him, starting at the U.S. Open.
As for Jason Day, he'll obviously also be in the field at Oakmont, where he fared well when America's national championship was last contested there in 2016, tying for eighth.
If TruGreen had its way, of course, Day and Griffin would make up the final pairing on Father's Day Sunday. But Scottie Scheffler might have a little something to say about that.
We'd like to thank the fine folks at VML and TruGreen for facilitating this exclusive interview with Jason Day. If you use quotes from this piece, be sure to link back to Pro Golf Now.