AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tears are not uncommon in golf. There are tears of joy when victory is achieved, tears of defeat when championships are lost. Rarer are the tears of fear, the kind of tears that rolled down Jason Day’s face last month when he withdrew from the WGC-Match Play Championship and told the world his mother has lung cancer.
He used the words “12 months to live” and “surgery” during an emotional press conference in Austin, Texas, and explained how a son had to be at his mother’s side because Jason Day would not be who he is without Adenil “Dening” Day.
“I owe everything to her,” Day said Tuesday. “She’s the one who got me from where I was to go to golf academy, meet my coach and get to where I am right now.”
Day is smiling again. It’s Masters week, and the arrival of golf’s first major championship puts everyone in a pleasant mood. But you got the feeling Day would be just as happy at the Ritz Cracker Open thanks to his mother’s improved health. A tumor that measured 3.5 centimeters was removed from her left lung during a five-hour surgery, and Day said doctors have told her she won’t need chemotherapy. She’s still weak, but there is hope she might be able to attend the Masters.
“I’m very, very pleased and very happy with how things have progressed from the start of the year to now,” Day said. “I feel kind of a lot lighter in a sense that my mind is not weighing heavily on the situation that my mom was going through. So to be able to have that happen and then be able to come here and get my mind off things is quite nice.
“Cancer affects so many people. It’s a very painful thing to go through and watch a loved one actually go through it. I just wanted to say thank you very much for the support that everyone has given me and my team and especially my mom. We’re very, very pleased to be able to get through this stage and hopefully she can live a very long life.”
Day describes his mother as 4-feet, 11-inches of determination, already looking to get back to work and telling her son to do the same.
“She’s really tiny and she can be very intimidating,” Day said. “I don’t say too much to my mom. She just kind of has to give you this look and I know.”
Ordinarily, Day would be among the favorites to win this year’s Masters, and given the Australian’s record here, he still is. Over the last 10 years, his scoring average of 71.4 ranks second only to Tiger Woods’ 70.9, and his eight PGA Tour wins over the last three years ties Jordan Spieth for the most. But he hasn’t thought about golf much over the last month and will be playing his seventh Masters more on muscle memory.
“I didn’t pick up a club from Match Play until when I got here Friday,” he said. “Obviously I was busy with my mom and busy with my family and all that stuff and not really thinking about playing golf. Maybe it’s a good thing.”
Day was the hottest player in golf this time last year after five wins in 2015, including his first major at the PGA Championship. He added wins at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational and Match Play before arriving at Augusta, where he tied for 10th. He is winless in six starts this year with his best finish a tie for fifth at Pebble Beach.
“I’m going to just do the best job I can with what I’ve got,” Day said, adding, “Just being a lot happier and enjoying myself a lot more, the swing feels like I’m hitting it a lot better.”
It’s time for tears of joy again.