Down Under still down and out

Jason Day has a lot to learn about Augusta National Golf Club, and the first-timer might be well served to start with DVDs of some old Masters Tournaments.

Day knows well that the Masters is the only major championship that hasn't been won by an Australian, but he's not as well versed in the sometimes painful history of his countrymen at Augusta National.

"No Australian's won it yet, so I'd love to take my chance," he said. "They'd be a hero. Australians have won the British, PGA and the U.S. Open, but I think we hold the Masters as probably the highest major."

Day's first memory of watching the Masters was 1997, when Tiger Woods dominated with a 12-shot victory. Day's never missed watching it since.

The Australian was only 8 the year before, however, and blissfully oblivious to what happened to Aussie golfing icon Greg Norman.

Shockingly unaware, in fact.

"What happened in '96?" Day said.

Serious?

"Yeah, I'm being serious. I have no idea."

Norman ... six-shot lead ... meltdown ... Nick Faldo?

"Oh, oh, oh, did he do that in '87 as well?"

No, Larry Mize chipped in on him in a playoff that year.

"So in '96 Faldo came back. Well, Faldo golfed his ball, right?"

Yeah, 67 to 78.

"That'll usually do it," Day said. "I won't look at the tape. Or I'll look at the tape and see what Faldo did."

Day is keenly aware that Norman had been close to winning many tournaments and had "some weird things happen to him -- guys chipping in and holing shots."

Not to mention a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus throwing 30 at him on the back nine in 1986.

"Really?" Day said. "That was a year before I was born."

So he's not a golf historian, but the 23-year-old is making his own history. At 19, he became the youngest player to ever win a PGA Tour-sanctioned event at the Nationwide Tour's stop in Ohio. That victory prompted a bold, youthful boast about challenging former world No. 1 Woods, whose book he read at a golf academy.

"If I work hard on what I need to, I'm sure I can take him down," Day said then.

That claim brought out some eye-rolling, but Day has remained on a steady track to stardom. Last year he had his first victory at the Byron Nelson Championship, becoming the second-youngest winner there behind Woods.

Day made the cut in his major debut at St. Andrews last summer, but he really left his mark in his second career major start in the PGA at Whistling Straits. A third-round 66 propelled him into the hunt. He was paired with eventual champion Martin Kaymer in the final round, shooting 74 to finish tied for 10th.

"It was a lot of fun. It's a different kind of pressure," he said. "Playing in the two majors, while I obviously don't know how the Masters is going to play yet, I've got that sort of major feel for the big stage. If I can figure out what I'm doing, I'll be OK and won't be too nervous."

Day's blistering second half of 2010 included all five of his top-10 finishes, two of them in the PGA Tour's playoff series that propelled him to eighth in the final standings and into the top 50 of the world rankings.

He'll come to Augusta in his mobile home with his wife, Ellie, and two miniature dachshunds, Charlie and Lola, who he insists weren't named after the BBC cartoon.

More than anything else, Day is looking forward to the atmosphere. He's heard stories about the roars echoing across the course and wants to experience it firsthand.

"I'm looking forward to that and want to hear the crowds," he said.

Day is pinning no expectations on himself.

"No goals," he said of the Masters. "Just go there and see what happens."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 orscott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.