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Jason Day has said he has “missed” the LIV Golfers exiled from the PGA Tour, and looked forward to them re-oining the field at the US Masters in April.
Hours after the Royal & Ancient announced they too would let LIV players compete at Royal Liverpool in July, Day said he looked forward to once again sharing the course with the likes of Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
He said the Majors deserved to have the best players in the world competing, but admitted some of his PGA Tour peers may find it “awkward”.
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“Some of the guys that were voicing their opinions about LIV, it’ll probably be a little bit more awkward,” he said.
“Actually, I missed the guys. I missed the guys that left.
“Some of those guys like Phil and Dustin and Cami … it’s kind of sad that they left, but I’m OK with them coming back.
“The majors should have the best players in the world, and I think those guys deserve the right to go in and play the major championships
“Will it be awkward for some? Yes, but for me it won’t be because I’ll be catching up with some mates which is going to be great.”
Since his last win at Wells Fargo in 2018, Day has spent several seasons battling issues both on and off the course.
Day spent a combined 51 weeks as World No.1 between September 2015 and February 2017.
But health issues – including a persistent back injury that forced him into fundamental swing change, saw him fall out of the top-150 in 2021.
That fall, combined with the death of his mother last March saw his mental health take a hit.
But after three straight top-10s and a top-20 in his first four events of 2023, Day is back in form and back in the top-fifty of the world rankings, ensuring automatic qualification for the Masters, which starts on April 6.
Day attributes his rise back up the world rankings and impressive form to his work with performance coach Jason Goldsmith, and coach Chris Como to rebuild his confidence.
“I believed in my team … and what they were telling me to get my body back,” he said.
“It was just a matter of having the consistency of doing it over and over again for a period of time.
“I was lost. I didn’t know what to do. I was not only lost, swing wise and body wise … I was lost mentally and all the confidence [from when he was World No.1] had kind of just disappeared.
“It’s a very humbling experience going from No.1 in the world to 150, but with the discipline work with my coach and my trainers. I started seeing results in practice and then I started seeing results in social rounds and then from there into competitive rounds.
“It’s just spiralled up.”
Day’s next appearance is scheduled for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March, followed by the Players the week after.
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