Jason Day: I'm not going to quit until I win

Jason Day has two career goals in golf: make it to world No. 1 and win the Masters Tournament.

“I’m not going to stop until I achieve that or if I injure myself and I’m done for the game,” said Day, who is just 26.

One goal this season was to make it into the top five in the world ranking. Day, who was ranked 36th before last year’s Masters, accomplished that in the 13th full-field event of the PGA Tour’s 2013-14 wraparound season, which started in early October. He moved up to No. 4 in the ranking when he won the World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship in mid-February.

Day, who led the 2013 Masters after 69 holes before finishing third, now has his sights firmly on winning a green jacket.

“My game feels good,” he said. “I’ve never been so focused in my life on competing and playing well than I have been this year. I’ve put in a lot of work on the golf course and I’ve put in a lot of work off the golf course on my body, everything. Ever since the World Cup win last year (with fellow Australian Adam Scott), it’s been very motivating for me to go out and do the work and really push myself and see how far I can go.”

Day had one less event to prepare for this year’s Masters when he withdrew from the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship before the opening round because of an injury to his left thumb.

A Masters win might not move Day past Tiger Woods to No. 1 in the world ranking, but it would move him closer to the top.

“I know that Tiger is up there right now and there’s a pretty big gap between me and him,” Day said in March. “But you know, I think it’s achievable if I put in the hard work, and first of all, win. That’s the biggest thing – you have to come out and win, and win a lot. From there, we’ll see how it goes.”

For a while, it looked like Day, not Scott, would become the first Australian to win the Masters. After birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15, Day had taken the lead. But he bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 and parred No. 18 to finish with 2-under-par 70, two shots out of the playoff with Scott and Angel Cabrera.

“I think if I had that opportunity again, I think I would have slowed everything down,” Day said. “On No. 16, the pressure did get a little bit to me. Being in that situation was an amazing feeling going through my body. The rush that I got through my body after I birdied 15 was amazing.

“To have the lead there and go, ‘Oh, man, I only have three holes left; if I can play well from here, I’ll be the first Australian to win it.’ It was an amazing feeling. I was so pumped and so amped that it got to me and I hit a 7‑iron over the back there (on No. 16), which normally I would be hitting 7‑iron just getting to the pin. I should have slowed down and just kind of talked to (caddie) Col Swatton a little bit more and really talked everything through so that all the information is gathered and I can execute the shot that I need to. And that’s why you learn from it.”

The difference between Day’s loss at Augusta National and his Match Play Championship victory 10 months later was a matter of perseverance in the face of intense pressure.

“At the Masters, it just felt like I couldn’t go on anymore,” Day said.

At the Match Play Championship, Day lost a 3-up lead to France’s Victor Dubuisson. He then beat Dubuisson, who was hitting magical recovery shots to stay in the match, on the 23rd hole of the scheduled 18-hole match.

“You get to a breaking point in your golf game where it can go either way,” Day said. “You go, OK, I’ve had enough and I just need to sit down and chill out. Or you go, no, stuff that, I’m going to push through it and I’m not going to quit until I win.”

Day’s victory at the Match Play Championship was his second in his six-plus years on the PGA Tour (he won the 2010 Byron Nelson Championship).

After the latest victory, Day defended his record.

“I’ve heard things in the media saying he’s only got one win,” Day said. “At the end of the day, I’ve had a lot of consistent finishes in big events and obviously I said to myself I’ve got to keep working hard and work, work, work, work, work smart. As long as I don’t give up and keep pushing through, it will happen again. And hopefully happen in bunches.”