If you were to say 12 months ago that Jason Day would be an outsider to consider for the 2023 Masters Tournament – it would have raised a few eyebrows. The reason has nothing to do with the Australian’s talent, but rather his bad luck with injury.
Day has battled recurring back issues for nearly a decade, and found himself consistently sliding down the world rankings as a result of missing tour events coupled with poor performances when deemed fit to play.
It’s a shame, as Day was establishing himself as one of the better golfers of this generation, racking up notable individual accomplishments including finishing runner up at the Masters in 2013, to coincide with two second-placed finishes at the US Open in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Day would manage to get over the hump and justify his pre-tournament support in the golf betting markets at the PGA Championship at the famed Whistling Straits in 2015 however, producing an exceptional display that saw him shoot rounds of 68, 67, 66 and 67 to defeat Jordan Spieth by three strokes.
It was not only a notable win for Day in that it marked his maiden major success – it was also an historic outing as he became the first player to finish at 20-under par in a major.
Despite the success Day experienced earlier in his career, as was mentioned earlier – he hit a rough patch and struggled from 2016 through to 2022. With that being said, the Aussie’s 2023 has been incredibly promising. The 35-year-old has finished in the top 20 in seven consecutive tour events, including the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play where he was up three through seven holes in the quarter–final against last year’s Masters winner Scottie Scheffler.
Day would ultimately lose that contest to Scheffler down the stretch – however – his quarter–final appearance moved him into the top 50 in the world rankings and therefore earned him an invitation
to this year’s Masters Tournament. Day was pleased with his performance, and noted that he wanted to focus on the positives from what was a successful week in Austin.
“It was a great step in the right direction. It opens my eyes to the fact that I have a few things I need to work on, short game-wise, putting-wise,” Day said.
“It was a couple of old swings, old patterns that came in, like 14 today, that wedge that went left, that’s just an old pattern.
“The swing overall is coming along nice. The overall game is really starting to narrow in now.”
As a result of his improved play this calendar year, Day has firmed in the latest US Masters odds and is currently sitting at 22/1. He won’t be without his fair share of competition however, with a number of elite players such as Scheffler, John Rahm and Rory McIlroy just a handful of golfers who will be entering this month’s tournament in great form. Those three players referenced are also the pre-tournament favourites, garnering odds of 7/1, 8/1 and 15/2 respectively.
