As Jason Day and Jordan Speith battled down the final holes of he PGA Championship Day seemed to top each shot that his pal and competitor made. He said he had a new calm about himself over those last few holes but when he sank that final putt to give him his first major years of emotions sprouted from his eyes as he realized a lifelong dream.
We heard the stories about Day’s poor upbringing and troubled youth and when he hugged his mentor and caddie it was truly a Hollywood, feel good ending for what appeared to be a man in full bloom.
“My dad,” Day says, “was a violent alcoholic. Really aggressive. If we cussed or even said “shut up,” we would get the belt. I remember I swore at my sister one time, and she ended up telling on me to my dad. I think I was 9 years old. And he made me sit in the mud under a mango tree while it was storming for three hours. It was dark. There were so many mosquitoes out there, so when I came in I had bites everywhere. My mom tried to get me in, but my dad wouldn’t allow it.”
Day’s father eventually quit drinking but remained a hostile presence. Having shown a knack for golf, Day played in fear of upsetting his dad.
“I remember once shooting a [poor] score, and he goes, “You’re going to get it in the parking lot,”” Day recalls. “So I get in the car. I’m scared. We drive out of the club, he stops on the side of the road. He just starts whaling on me with both hands, closed-fist punching. I was 11. I had bruises all over me. But I mean, it is what it is.”
Day eventually found his way to a golf academy and was embraced by his now caddie, Collin Swatton. The two have been inseparable since and Colin has been the father figure Day needed.
“People look at me funny when I say the thing that makes me proudest of Jason is that he’s a great kid; a loving, doting father to Dash; and a loving husband to Ellie,” says his longtime caddie, coach and mentor, Colin Swatton. 
“Because they just don’t know.”
Day has forged a life for his son that he never had. He’s a devoted father and husband and treats people and the game of golf with respect. “He makes me think of Arnie,” says Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. “Or Jeter, Staubach, Arthur Ashe — great athletes and great sportsmen, popular with the media and fellow athletes, magnanimous at every turn. That’s Jason.”
Day opens up to Morfit and shows there is so much more to him then just his powerful golf game.
And here is an soul bearing piece on Day by his sponsor, RBC. In it Day says he wouldn’t be playing on tour if his dad didn’t die when he was so young. It’s a revealing piece on Day and what makes him tick.
Related Articles
