T.J.'s Take: Day's comments inspired, not arrogant
By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer
Some might think he's arrogant. Some might call him young and naïve. But when I think of PGA TOUR rookie Jason Day, I think of a young man who possesses the mentality every single player on TOUR should have.
Day is a 20-year-old Aussie who played his way on to the PGA TOUR after an outstanding 2007 campaign on the Nationwide Tour. He finished fifth on the money list and became the youngest winner of a TOUR-sanctioned event when he took the Legend Financial Group Classic last July at age 19.
Day made headlines in January when he said, "I'm trying to work toward taking that No. 1 spot from Tiger."
How dare him.
For that comment, Day was ripped. The general consensus was who is this little twerp calling out the No. 1 player in the world?
Fact of that matter was and is he didn't mean it like that. Seriously. Sure, we live in an age where the ultimate defense for back-trackers is to claim they were misquoted, or taken out of context.
Day was neither. His defense was simple -- high expectations.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a young Tiger Woods who declared to the world that his goal was to chase all of Jack Nicklaus' records? Did people think he was crazy? Well, maybe when he first said it people did, but that's probably not the case now.
One might be quick -- and correct, I might add -- to point out that Woods accomplished a considerable amount more than Day in the amateur ranks. But, what makes Day's plight so blasphemous and Tiger's so embraced? Isn't the goal of every athlete supposed to be to measure himself or herself against the best in his or her particular sport?
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Perhaps the issue with Day was simply that he made the comment at the Sony Open in Hawaii -- his first event as a member of the PGA TOUR, having accomplished nothing at golf's highest level yet. A missed cut there sure didn't help his cause.
But, fast forward one month later and while Tiger's No. 1 spot is nowhere close to being in danger by anyone in the world let alone No. 131 Day, the young Aussie is beginning to let his clubs do the talking.
First, Day posted a season-best 67 in the final round of the FBR Open to finish in a tie for 20th. That momentum carried over to last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. All four of his rounds at Pebble were sub-par, leading to a career-best sixth-place finish.
Does any of this mean Tiger should be looking over his shoulder? No way. Day is still eons from even being in Tiger's rearview mirror where objects are closer than they appear. Incidentally, sources at Buick tell me Tiger doesn't even have rearview mirrors on his vehicles. Everything is so far out of sight the mirrors are obsolete.
I was in Day's presence for the first time a few weeks back at the Buick Invitational. During his pre-tournament interview, I was impressed. He was honest, sincere, genuine and, yes, confident.
As you'd expect, Day was asked about that Tiger comment and the backlash, but didn't back down.
"I didn't want to create too much attention," he said. "It was just me -- I want to take down Tiger. He's the No. 1 guy in the world. But like I said, if it takes me five years or 20 years. I've got goals that I want to achieve. Who doesn't want to become the No. 1 golfer in the world? Some guys might be out here just to make some money, but I've always dreamed and it's always been my goal since I was a little kid that I want to become the No. 1 golfer in the world.
"That's probably obviously the same as Tiger when he was in my spot. You can't say to anyone that you can't think that or say that because that's what they want to do, and that's their dream," he continued. "You can't obviously go to someone else in the crowd here and say, you know what, why did you want to become a writer, because you want to be better then anyone else? You've got to fulfill your dreams, and that's it."
Point taken.
Golf isn't typically "sexy" when it comes to storylines. So, when a player seemingly calls out Tiger there's a buzz -- just ask Rory Sabbatini and Ian Poulter.
For Jason Day it wasn't a case of calling out Woods. To the contrary, Day admires Woods, is inspired by him, but not intimidated.
Day's recent finishes aren't eye-popping, but they are impressive when you consider he's not even legal in the States yet. Before you write him off as a cocky punk, appreciate his ambitiousness and understand that in order to reach potential, one can't have limits.
Even if everyone else looks at "the limit" as Tiger Woods.
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