Jason Day captured his second win of the season by shooting a 2-under 69 on Sunday to win the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Day finished at 12-under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Aaron Wise and Nick Watney. The win was Day’s second of 2018, marking a return to the kind of form that made him the No. 1 player in the world in 2016.
Not His Best Day
Day struggled on the back nine, posting bogeys on both the 13th and 14th holes to temporarily fall back into a tie with Wise. But a birdie on the 16th was followed by another on 17, putting him in position to clinch victory with a par on the tournament’s final hole.
For Day, earning the victory despite not playing his best for the entire round made the win a memorable one.
“You’re your own worst enemy out there, especially today,” Day said after the tournament. “The moments when you win and you don’t have your greatest stuff is the moment when you learn the most.”
The win moves Day back to No. 7 in the official World Golf Ranking, putting the Australian back among golf’s elite after a two-year dry spell.
In the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Day won eight events, including his only major: the 2015 PGA Championship. But after winning the Players Champions in May 2016, Day failed to win another tournament until he captured the Famers Insurance Open for the second time in his career earlier this season.
Looking out for Number 1
Day hasn’t reached the No. 1 ranking in the world since February 2017. He says that his 51 weeks as the top-ranked golfer in the world took an emotional toll on him.
“I got burned out being No. 1,” Day said after his latest win. “Last year was a good kick in the butt, not playing great and then seeing a lot of the other guys succeed. There was no jealousy there or envy. I know what it takes and feels like to win and be in that position, and it was more disappointing emotion that came over me last year saying that I feel I’ve got all this talent.”
Tiger Woods finished at 2-over-par to finish in a tie for 55th place. Woods finished the final round without a single birdie for only the 11th time in his professional career. After the tournament, Woods had nothing but praise for Day and the efforts he was making to get back to the top of the golfing world.
“He’s willing to get his hands dirty again and do all the legwork off the gold course away from tournaments that it takes,” Woods said after the tournament. “The hours upon hours of countless practice that we have to log in, he’s willing to do that again.”
Day’s recent form has started to shorten the odds on him at next month’s US Open. While Dustin Johnson (9/1) remains the favorite according to William Hill, Jason Day is listed at 14/1, just behind other top contenders like Jordan Spieth (12/1), Rory McIlroy (12/1), and Justin Thomas (12/1). Tiger Woods is currently listed at 20/1 to win the Open.
