Veteran Jason Day riding hot wedge into contention at American Express

It’s not a stretch to say that Australian Jason Day is one of the most decorated players in this year’s American Express field.

At 37 years old, Day is a former World No. 1, he has 13 PGA Tour wins, one major victory at the 2015 PGA Championship and he’s finished runner-up in the other three majors. Despite that gaudy résumé, Day has never had much success at this event until this week.

After a fairy-dust-sprinkled first round of 8 under that included three chip-ins on Thursday at La Quinta Country Club, Day followed that up with a solid 6-under 66 on Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. That puts him squarely in contention at 14 under, just two strokes behind co-leaders Charley Hoffman and Rico Hoey.

“It was good. One blemish, obviously on that par-5,” Day said, referring to his lone bogey of the day on the par-5 seventh where his ball rolled into a sand-filled divot leading to an errant chip. “Overall very solid from tee to green, putting feels good, so really kind of getting those last two rounds out of the way is nice, and then getting into the tough test starting tomorrow.”

The tough test is the Stadium Course which is playing around four strokes tougher than the two courses Day has already played. He’ll play that course Saturday and everyone who makes the cut will play it Sunday.

“That’s definitely a big change compared to the last two days. So the game plan’s probably going to have to change a little bit, going to have to play a little bit more conservative to some of the pin locations,” he said. “Hopefully, bomb in maybe two or three of those long putts that you kind of usually get when you’re playing pretty well.”

The putter is one thing, but after a day with three chip-ins, a golfer might get the feeling that something special is happening this week. Day chipped in for an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, a birdie on the par-4 10th and again for eagle on the par-5 13th. Then on Friday, he lipped out a sand shot that would have given him a fourth hole this week with no putter necessary.

He said those chip-ins made him feel good not just for the three saved strokes, but because that’s a part of his game he’s been paying extra attention to in recent weeks.

“It’s definitely nice because after Sentry in Hawaii I didn’t really chip that well,” Day said. “Obviously, it’s different grass. This is quite forgiving grass, but I was quite disappointed, so I worked really hard on the short game and it paid off obviously in the first round. I know that the short game stuff is working, but it’s just two days, the next two days are going to be tough.”

Day has 13 PGA wins but only one has come in the last five years (the 2023 Byron Nelson) so to be in contention is important for him. This is only the fourth time Day has played in this event, and so far it’s his best performance. He’s made the cut every year but never finished higher than 18th.

For a large part of his career, Day did not play in this event, instead preferring to spend this time of year in the desert but working on his game privately. But in 2022 he decided to join the field, and he’s played every year since.

Day said he’s appreciated the value he gets from playing in this tournament these last four years.

“It’s nice to be able to get here, get some work done, kind of see where things are progressing heading into the start of the season. If you can play well here, great. That usually propels you into Torrey and Pebble, which is usually when I would start my season before I started playing here,” Day said. “It’s nice to be able to come here where there’s no wind and it’s perfect weather all the time. The crowds are great, the tournament’s fantastic, and then getting into the meat of the West Coast Swing from here.”

Day and pro playing partner Justin Thomas, who is also playing well at 13 under, will pair up again Saturday at the Stadium Course with an 8:52 a.m. tee time off the first hole.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Jason Day riding hot wedge into contention at American Express