All In

After some Fragile Moments Jason Day turns inspiration into obsession.

- Jaime Diae

THERE’S AN EASY “HI, MATE” OPENNESS AND HUMILITY TO JASON DAY. The 28-year-old Australian calls himself “a boring person,” equating golf ’s other 20-somethings to “the popular kids in school . . . I’m just the nerd in the back.” Day’s attempt at a recent press conference to explain his combination of power and touch – “Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy had a baby, and I was it” – was slightly, though charmingly, off. It’s why he lets his wife, Ellie, do his tweeting. But Day’s warmth is the reason his ascension to World No 1 last September, shortly after winning his first major championship, at Whistling Straits, has been a popular one in the caddie yards, equipment trailers and tournament offices of professional golf, and especially among the tight group of players and families who, like the Days, regularly travel and try to normalise tour life in a luxury RV. “Jason has a sweet nature that’s pretty laid-back, even when he’s got to be intense,” says fellow Aussie and friend Geoff Ogilvy. “Most players, especially the really good ones, aren’t like that.”

Day is unlike his peers in another, seemingly opposite way. From age 10 to 13 in a rough side of Rockhampton, a Gold Coast town north of Brisbane, Day got into a lot of fistfights. Though many took place in schoolyards, they were still the gasping, desperate kind that ended when one party quit or got hurt, although the stress of a quick rematch could loom.