Jason Day hits a shot on Tuesday out of a bunker at Le Golf Nationwide.
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Jason Day is dreaming of 2028. And 2032. Wouldn’t that be one thing? An Olympic golf event 4 years from now in L.A. Tinseltown. And a medal probability 4 years later in Brisbane, Australia, his residence nation. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
Min Woo Lee then tried to wake him up.
“Will you continue to be enjoying?” the 26-year-old cheekily requested.
“How far is that away?” Day responded. “Eight years?”
“Fifty-four,” Lee responded, seemingly guessing at Day’s age in 2032.
“I’m the outdated man on the workforce apparently,” Day deduced.
Because the duo talked Tuesday at Le Golf Nationwide forward of this yr’s Olympic tourney, there have been a number of issues occurring. For one, Day was proper, when in comparison with males’s teammate Lee, or girls’s teammates Hannah Inexperienced (age 27) and Minjee Lee (age 28 and Min Woo’s sister), although Lee was off by a strong decade — Day is 36 now and shall be 44 when Brisbane rolls round. However all of this frivolousness illustrates a bigger level. Was that actually Jason Day going back-and-forth with a mate? It was. Was that actually Jason Day questioning about extra Video games? It was. Should you have been curious in any respect about this occasion’s pulse in its third go-around since being introduced again to the Olympics, there have been your solutions.
There was this, too:
The person who as soon as wasn’t so scorching for the Olympics mentioned he regrets skipping out in 2016.
On the time, Day had cited a Zika virus scare in Rio de Janeiro for his choice, and others had too. However the 2015 PGA Championship winner and former world No. 1 mentioned he ought to’ve performed. Failure to qualify for the Video games in 2021 fanned that thought.
“I do know in 2016, wanting again on it, I’ve mentioned it earlier than, the place there was some remorse, clearly, not taking place,” Day mentioned. “On the time, I believe I used to be like No. 1 or 2 on this planet and I believe I used to be like to some extent the place I used to be sort of burnt out, and the very last thing on my thoughts was representing Australia within the Olympics.
“Wanting again on it, I ought to’ve simply sucked it up and gone down and performed. I believe in that case, it might have been an awesome expertise for me to go down there and symbolize one thing that’s greater than you, you realize what I imply.
“After which clearly when it got here to Tokyo, that was one Video games — Japan is considered one of my favourite nations to go go to. I had some accidents and stuff, and clearly Cam [Smith] and Marc [Leishman] have been ranked larger than me. To have the ability to play my approach into it — now, granted, we’re from a reasonably small nation. It’s not like if I used to be representing America; it’s very troublesome as a result of there’s so many good gamers there. I simply felt that if I may simply play half-decent sooner or later, I’d be capable to get again on the workforce.”
So what flipped?
Burn-out had been a transparent concern for Day; he additionally raised it on the U.S. Open that yr earlier than pulling out of the Video games. Over a few 13-month stretch, he’d received eight instances, and with it got here calls for he wasn’t used to. “After some time,” Day mentioned, “you possibly can solely give out a lot of your self earlier than you go — you pull the brakes and also you’re saying, I’m not doing that anymore.”
That every one being mentioned, did you occur to catch the Olympic judo?
Day did Monday.
It truly summed up properly how he arrived at his newfound Olympic appreciation level.
“I believe if you happen to would have requested me in 2016 [about the importance of Olympic golf], I’d have given you a politically right reply, although I believed otherwise,” Day mentioned. “Simply because rising up, although I revered the Olympic athletes and the Olympics itself, golf was by no means part of it. Early 1900s, it was a part of it actually, actually, shortly. It was one thing I grew up watching however by no means thought that I’d ever play as an Olympic athlete and was simply by no means on the radar. At the moment, like I mentioned in 2016, I used to be at some extent in my profession that I used to be like, I’m sort of finished enjoying golf in my profession proper now as a result of I bought to some extent the place I used to be burnt out.
“Now, watching judo and among the girls compete yesterday, and the true feelings of what they undergo once they lose, and watching a few of these girls break down, exhibiting how a lot it truly means, not solely to symbolize their nation however wish to try to win a medal — as a result of to them, that is their greatest event of the yr, if not each 4 years, and this implies a lot extra to them.
“For us, we are able to play a event subsequent week if we need to, so it simply retains rolling over. To look at an athlete undergo that emotion of attempting to beat a loss or overcome successful for the primary time, successful a medal for the primary time, could be very inspiring to look at. So it positively has modified the way in which that I view golf within the Olympics, and that’s why I’m very grateful for the chance to have the ability to compete right here this week.”
However can he win?
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Day’s letting himself not less than give it some thought. They play these as soon as each 4 years, you realize.
And by Lee’s math, Day ain’t getting youthful, both.
“Like wanting again on it someday — to be sincere, earlier than I came visiting, like all my mates have been like, dude, you’re an Olympic athlete,” Day mentioned. “They stored saying it. I’m like, man, no matter, that’s tremendous.
“Now after they stored saying it, I can perceive how essential and funky it’s to have the ability to name your self an Olympic athlete as a result of when you’re an Olympic athlete, you’re at all times an Olympic athlete. To have the chance to win a medal could be very thrilling to consider.”
