Capelle On Golf

At the beginning of the season Tiger Woods was said to have lost sleep when the gauntlet was thrown down by Jason Day, the brash and super talented young Australian.”Everyone is working toward something. I’m trying to work toward taking that No. 1 spot from him,” said Day.

His early season progress looked like a hot stock in a bull market as he went MC, 49t, 20t, and 6t in his first four starts. At this rate of ascension a win must have surely been forthcoming. But then reality and the affects of a wrist injury set in – and Day was mostly done. He missed the cut in nine of his next 10 events, concluding this nightmarish stretch at the Memorial.

It was then learned that Day was suffering from a back injury caused by over practicing, but that he was committed to getting his health back. In early June Day said, “I’ve just got to make sure that I’m on top of how I train. In golf your body is the No.1 thing.”

Another three months passed with a little progress on the scoreboard as he made the cut in four of his next six events, with a best of 27t at the Travelers Championship. Still, he somehow squeaked into the top 144 (he’s #127) to qualify for the FedExCup.

But after he opened with a five bogey laden 74, another MC appeared likely. But he rebounded with a 68 to make the cut by two, then shot a 66 on Saturday tying Vijay Singh and Robert Allenby for the day’s low round.

Going into Sunday he trails non-winner Kevin Streelman by three shots. Should Streelman falter as non-winners often do, then he’s got to bypass Singh, Mike Weir, Paul Casey, and Sergio Garcia, who lead him by two shots.

So does he have a chance? Well, he’s played his last 27 holes in five under with no bogeys and his stats on Saturday were awesome: he hit 14 greens and 10 of 14 fairways, and he averaged 305 on the two driving holes.

Sure, it might be expecting a lot for a player whose not yet 21 to win his first event against such a star studded leaderboard after coming back from injuries. But hey, if he’s as good as everyone says his day (pun intended) must surely be coming. He’ll turn 21 in November, and we know how good Tiger was in his first full season at that age. And Tiger will be back sometime in 2009. By then, perhaps Day will get his shot one Sunday at the great man.