Jason Day turned the U.S. Open Golf Championship into a magnetic television event that transcends sports. It’s about one man overcoming physical illness — and the power of mind over body.
Day’s valiant round of 68 at Chambers Bay in Washington on Saturday not only displayed the will the win but also the mystical power of athletic achievement.
On Friday, Day had collapsed on the 18th hole after a vertigo attack. He could barely walk but, after a short rest, was able to finish the hole and the second round.
Day was then taken by medical personnel on a cart to report his final score. He finished with a two-day total of 2 under par, good for ninth place.
To see his fall on YouTube go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSOCA42zzP0
Day, who at times on Saturday looked dizzy and sick, completed the hills and brutally-rough terrain of the Chambers Bay course with a 68. That left him 4-under par for the tournament, and in a four-way for the lead going into Sunday’s final round.
Physical courage and body punishment is not usually associated with golf. Football and hockey players are known for playing hurt and sporting blood on their uniforms.
Golf, though is a gentleman’s game and the closest thing to blood is usually a bloody Mary in the clubhouse bar.
Jason Day — like Ben Hogan and Ken Venturi in years gone by — showed that golfers are athletes who sometimes must give their bodies as well as hearts and souls to the game.
“I didn’t feel that great coming out early and I felt pretty groggy on the front nine just from the drugs I had to take in my system,” Day told reporters Saturday after his round. “Then I tried to flush them out on the back nine. But then the vertigo came back. I felt nauseous. I started shaking. I just tried to get it in (finish).”
Vertigo has been a lingering problem for Day, 27, who is from Australia. Fox Sports reported that Day’s vertigo is caused by an inner ear medical condition. He pulled out of a tournament last year because of vertigo.
“But my goal today was just to get through and see how it goes,” Day told reporters. It wasn’t easy.
“Jason almost quit three times today on the back nine,” Colin Swatton, Day’s caddy and coach, said in a press statement after the round. Swatton added Day’s effort was, “the greatest round I’ve ever seen.” The crowd agreed and gave Day a rousing standing ovation after a birdie on the 18th hole.
This all made for powerful television. Day was tied for the lead with Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Branden Grace.
Now Day must overcome vertigo, and also three of the best golfers in the world.
There was something Quixotic about the whole thing and Day was doing more than tilting at windmills. He was making a statement that vertigo might knock him down but he was going to fight to get up and stay up.
“He (Day) has created fantastic theater and put a stage up there that probably no one else could ever match,” golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman said on Fox Sports. “When you think of somebody thinking of actually stopping three times on the back nine –it’s a phenomenal effort. He said vertigo came back on the 14th hole and what did he do? He made nothing but birdies the rest of the way.”
Everything could change on Sunday. Day might not even be able to compete. Regardless, Jason Day on Saturday gave sports fans and the world a lesson that extends far beyond any golf course.
It had nothing to do with driving or putting but everything to do with the triumph of human spirit.
Tony Violanti writes for Villages-News.com
