Jason Day Believes The Margins Matter Again

Jason Day enters the new golf season with fresh perspective and renewed purpose. Now 38, the 13-time PGA Tour winner believes his competitive fire still smolders beneath the surface and that the pieces are in place for a return to contention.

For Day, who will tee it up at The American Express this week, the path forward is rooted less in wholesale mechanical overhaul than in marginal gains that add up over time. In a Tour landscape defined by depth and rising standards, the former world No. 1 sees refinement—not reinvention—as the difference between another solid season and becoming a familiar presence on Sunday leaderboards again.

The Australian’s meticulous attention to detail extends well beyond the ropes. At his Ohio home, Day built himself an elaborate backyard practice complex. The layout features multiple greens and bunkers designed to mimic the variety he sees on Tour, with subtle nods to Muirfield Village, Oakmont, and Pinehurst No. 2. While the space doesn’t replicate full-length holes, it’s ideal for dialing in shot shapes from roughly 157 yards and provides a spot right outside his door where he can sharpen every aspect of his short game.

The setup also explains why Day moved away from a do-it-yourself approach to lawn care, opting to lean on professionals, removing another point of distraction from his day-to-day preparation.

“We spend a lot of family time out on the front lawn — soccer, sports, all of it,” Day said. “For me, it was about not worrying about something I didn’t want to worry about. You leave it to the pros, have TruGreen come service the lawn, and it’s been fantastic.”

That same philosophy also governs Day’s current equipment approach. An OEM free agent, Day has used the flexibility of not being locked into an equipment deal to explore his options more fully—a process that ultimately led him to put irons made by Pittsburgh-based boutique manufacturer Avoda into his bag. Named for the Hebrew word for work, worship, or service, Avoda is known for a highly precise, data-driven fitting process, dialing in extensively into lie angle, a shaft’s bend profile, grip and length set up. Day boiled down the allure to the curved face bulge-and-roll design and the exacting fitting process itself.

“It is unlike anything I’ve ever gone through,” he said, emphasizing that he’s now entering his 19^th season on the PGA Tour and he’s never experienced a comparable approach.

Working alongside founder Tom Bailey, Day went through multiple generations of prototypes, fine-tuning topline thickness, offset and center of gravity in the service of developing irons that launch the ball higher while also delivering accuracy gains.

“Everything works great in practice,” Day said, “but until you put it under the pump, you don’t really know. In theory, the curved face should keep things a lot straighter and less offline.”

That same fastidious attention to fit and individuality extends to how Day thinks about his often unconventional on-course look book. He was California-cool brand Malbon’s first PGA Tour signing, paving the way for players as varied as Charley Hull, Minjee Lee, Fred Couples, Michael Block and Anthony Kim to follow.

Rather than chasing a single aesthetic, Day said the streetwear-influenced label has embraced contrast—both its roster and its approach to golf fashion.

“If you put everyone in a line, everyone is so dramatically different, and that’s what I love about Malbon,” Day said. “They’re not one-size-fits-all. It’s about different styles and different identities in the way people dress and feel. And it’s for everyone.”

Georgia On His Mind

Even in mid-January, Augusta National is never far from Day’s mind. The Masters is the tournament that sparked his golf obsession as a young lad, and it’s remained a constant focal point throughout his career.

“It’s a tournament I always think about,” Day explained. “I grew up watching it as a kid. I watched Tiger win in 1997—that’s the reason I started playing golf. It was not only Tiger, but Augusta as well.”

Day’s belief goes beyond nostalgia. He has been close before, finishing runner-up in 2011, his debut effort, and posting multiple top-10s in subsequent tries including a tie for eighth showing last year. He’s had enough reps by now to have muscle memory over every nook and cranny of the golf course. “When I go there, I know exactly what to do,” he said. “It’s about giving myself the opportunity and then taking those when I get onto the green.”

At his peak, Jason Day set a standard that few of his peers could match. From mid-2015 through the spring of 2016, the Australian won seven times in a 17-start stretch that included the RBC Canadian Open, the PGA Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players. That run carried him to the top of the world rankings, where he remained for nearly a year. It was a level of sustained dominance that demanded respect.

Tiger Woods, then working his way back from multiple back surgeries, took notice. Speaking to the Associated Press, Woods praised Day’s dominance, saying, “I think it’s fantastic how he’s playing, how he’s handling himself, how focused he is and how committed he is to improving. He practices with purpose, and you can see it when he plays.”

A decade on, Day’s drive and determination remain in that same lofty gear as he measures himself against a new generation-defining force. If there is a ceiling to what he’s aiming for now, it’s defined by the current standard at the top of the game. Asked what it would take for another player to displace Scottie Scheffler as the world’s No. 1, Day didn’t hesitate. “Tiger Woods, 2000,” he said. “That’s essentially what you need.”