Former World No 1 recreates Oakmont's conditions at home as he seeks first major win in nearly a decade
His lone major victory is approaching its 10-year anniversary (Aug. 16, to be exact) when the Australian took home the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits during a run when Day was the most dominant golfer on the planet and ranked No. 1 in the world.
But since then, it's been a roller coaster.
He has battled numerous injuries and went winless over a five-year span. In early 2023, he was ranked 175th.
Entering the U.S. Open, he ranks 39th. And while he hasn't won in nearly two years, he's been much more consistent. He just needs to shake off these injuries; he recently missed some time with a wrist issue.st issue.
"[My golf game has] been good at times, I would say. But it's been choppy, because I'll be playing good and then obviously get an injury, and then I'll take a time off, and then I come back and I'll play good again, and then I get another injury. So it's just been … very, very difficult to get any sort of momentum," Day said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
"So I've played solid golf and I've had some good finishes, but I just can't believe we're halfway through the season now, and I feel like the year's gone very, very fast, but obviously, when you're injured, you're sitting out a lot and just waiting around until … your body heals. So decent golf, could play a little bit better, obviously. Everyone can do that."
This weekend's U.S. Open will be the first time he's out on the course since last month's PGA Championship as he nursed the aforementioned wrist injury. But he might be more prepared for the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, than anyone else.
Day, thanks to his partnership with TruGreen, was able to recently build his front lawn into Oakmont conditions: fast green, thick rough, all the fun stuff that any U.S. Open holds.
"I do have a golf course in my front yard, and I know how important it is to have the correct people in place to be able to make that happen. I'm preparing for the U.S. Open coming up, and we're doing everything we can to mimic the conditions that we have at the U.S. Open," Day said. "TruGreen handles that, and it's nice to be able drive past and go, 'Man, that lawn looks really nice.' It's that time of year when things are heating up, and when we get to the meat of the summer, things will dry out, so you need a team behind you to keep things looking mint."
"If you're on a simulator, and you're playing Oakmont, you can see what the course is going to give you. But here, I can grow the course, I can speed the greens, I can grow the rough, I can firm my course out," Day added.
While Day may be out of that No. 1 contention, a victory on Sunday may just put him back on that path that he's been dying for.
"Being No. 1 in the world, I knew how hard it was to get there, the work and effort and distractions that came with it. It's hard to sit there and say injuries have taken me out of some momentum," Day said. "But a career is very long. I'm trying to get these recent injuries behind me, and if I can have some healthy years and hit the ball hard, focus on what I need to do, hopefully I'll give myself a chance to challenge some of the best in the world."
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