Day focused on giving best for Masters, beyond

Since he was a teenager, Jason Day has never been shy about his two biggest career aspirations – reach No. 1 in the world and win the Masters Tournament.

Both goals are tantalizingly close.

“That’s all I’ve kind of dreamt about is winning that tournament for a long time,” the 27-year-old Australian said. “I’ve had some pretty good finishes at Augusta but I’m just looking for that one time where I can slip the green jacket on. That would be nice.”

A year ago, both of Day’s career dreams could have come true at one time. Ranked No. 4 in the world, a Masters victory could have vaulted him to No. 1. It was such a tempting proposition that he decided to play despite a thumb injury that had him sidelined six weeks before and six weeks after the Masters.

He finished tied for 20th – his only finish outside the top-three in three complete Augusta appearances. In 2012, he withdrew after the first round because of an ankle injury.

“I came back early from injury just to play Augusta,” he said of 2014. “Because I had a chance of getting to No. 1 if I won the Masters … so I thought I’d try to come back. I played well there and got hurt again after that.”

Day’s injury was no trivial matter. The extended pain in his thumb was enough to make him wonder if his career might come to a premature halt. Three cortisone shots in four weeks did nothing to alleviate the problem.

“It was a strange feeling going, ‘Is this what’s going to take me out of the game?’ ” Day said. “Because I love golf so much and really enjoy competing against these guys. So there was a time I thought I was never going to play golf again just because of a stupid thumb. Just cut the thing off, as long as it doesn’t hurt.”

With a slight grip modification to alleviate the pressure on his thumb, Day made the cut in all four majors – including a tie for fourth in the U.S. Open – despite the injury. But it remained an issue all season. Then came a bulging disc in his back late in the year that forced him to shut it down for three more months, allowing his thumb to finally heal.

“Slight blessing in disguise,” Day said of his back injury.

Feeling healthy this year, Day got himself right back to No. 4 in the world again with a playoff victory at Torrey Pines in February. He hopes the victory is indicative of a big year, and his focus is “giving it a hundred percent every day.”

“I’ve never been more motivated to play well than right now, this year,” Day said. “The other years I was very … I was motivated, but I wasn’t. I really want to kick butt this year. I’ve come close so many times to having great years and especially going off last year and having the ups and downs of last year. To be able to be healthyagain, be out here playing, getting off to a great start – I said to (wife) Ellie, at the end of last year, that I just was really motivated to, not only have a great year this year, but try and achieve that No. 1 spot.”

Day was closer to No. 1 a year ago before his injury, then Rory McIlroy went on a tear in the summer and widened the gap.

“(Rory) just makes it look so easy and effortless,” Day said. “I can tell you right now, it’s not easy. It’s not easy to win. I’m stressing out there. My heart’s pumping. … It’s obviously going to be tough to try and catch him, but that’s why we are here. We love to compete, we love to try and see what we have got. At the end of the day, I don’t want to go through life thinking that, what if I worked a little harder. So, if I can put in a hundred percent every day, really give it a good shot, then at the end of my career, whatever I’ve won in my career, whatever I’ve done in my career, I know that it’s been successful, because that’s as much as I could do.”

With three PGA Tour victories since turning pro in 2006, Day believes he should be winning more often. He thinks he got in his own way at times.

“A lot of people when they feel fear they kind of run away from it,” he said of what might have held him back. “I just said, enough, instead of feeling the fear and kind of running away from it, I’ve got to run towards it and try and face it.”

One of those running-from-fear moments came in the 2013 Masters, when he carried the lead to the 16th tee on Sunday only to let it slip and open the door for fellow Australian Adam Scott to claim the green jacket.

“I was leading Augusta and leading the Masters and I wanted to be the first Australian to win it,” Day said. “It just got me. It really did. It got me and I felt like I was tensing up and I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know what to do to go through the process to calm myself down and really focus on what I needed to do to get the ball in the hole and that’s where I bogeyed 16 and 17. It took me out of the tournament.

“It’s tough, but that’s where you learn.”