Australia's Day hopes to take a leaf out of Tiger's book
SAN DIEGO, California: Bruised but toughened by a difficult childhood, Australia's Jason Day has set his sights on becoming the world's No 1 golfer.
However long the journey takes, the 20-year-old from Rockhampton in Queensland would dearly love to follow in the footsteps of Tiger Woods.
Five years ago, Day read a book about Woods that helped him turn his own life around and end his wild teenage pursuits of underage drinking and sporadic fighting.
"Obviously Tiger Woods is number one right now, he's the benchmark," Day told reporters at Torrey Pines on Tuesday in the build-up to this week's Buick Invitational.
"Whether it takes me five years or 20 years, I would like to hopefully one day achieve that spot. I'm still going to work hard.
"Tiger is Tiger and you can't deny that. He is the greatest golfer. I respect Tiger so much. He's changed my life in more ways than anyone could have foreseen."
Widely tipped to become one of Australia's best players, Day concedes he went "off the rails a little bit" at the age of 12 after his father died of cancer.
"That was a really hard time for us," he said. "I did a lot of stupid things, getting into a lot of fights and drinking underage is not the right thing to do.
"Our family kind of split up a bit through that time but then my mom sent me away to boarding school and that's where I met my coach, Colin Swatton. We've been together for about eight years now."
Swatton has become a father figure to Day, who experienced another life-changing episode when he read the book on Woods a few years later.
"My life was going pretty much in the wrong direction, then I read the book and Tiger's changed my life," said Day, who won the 15-17 age division in the 2004 world junior championship at Torrey Pines. "First time I meet him, I've got to thank him.
"After I read that book, I woke up at 5:30 every morning to go practice and I didn't stop all through high school. I still do it sometimes now."
Day burst into the limelight by becoming the youngest winner of a PGA Tour-sanctioned event at last year's legend Financial Group Classic on the Nationwide Tour.
Aged 19 years, seven months and 26 days, he clinched the title with a closing 67 to eclipse the previous mark of Johnny McDermott, the 1911 US Open champion at 19 years and 10 months.
Touted as the next Greg Norman by Australians eager to celebrate their own world No 1, Day embraces the challenge.
"There's a lot of pressure with that but, if I stay with my goals, if I work hard towards what I want to achieve, then hopefully one day I can be number one," he said.
"A lot of people see me as an arrogant, confident kid. It doesn't worry me. I'm just out here to do a job and try and practice hard and win tournaments.
"Who doesn't want to become the number one golfer in the world? It's always been my goal since I was a little kid."
Agencies
(China Daily 01/24/2008 page22)
