Jason Day’s hopes of a first green jacket are fading after a spectacular late-round collapse left him languishing behind leader Brooks Koepka at The Masters.
On track to be stalking of LIV defector Koepka heading into the weekend at Augusta National, Day (-5) dropped four shots in his final four holes during the second round, including chunking a short pitch into the water to take double bogey on the 15th hole.
Australia’s world No.35, who has been runner-up at The Masters previously, then frittered away further shots at the 16th and 18th to post an even-par 72 on Saturday morning (AEST).
He’s seven shots behind American Koepka (-12), who signed for a five-under 67 in his second round to take a grip on the tournament as the Georgian weather closes in.
“Being decently close to where Brooks was going into the weekend, you never know how it goes, and obviously going from nine [under] to five was a bit of a kick in the guts,” Day said.
“I’ve just got off the golf course and I’m thoroughly annoyed with myself, and I’m sitting here answering questions, and that can be difficult because it’s in the heat of the moment, and I’m trying to get a hold of myself.”
Jason Day dropped four shots on his last four holes during his second round.Credit: Getty
The former world No.1 looked every bit the player who was a force in the sport for many years during the first part of his round, even recreating the famous Larry Mize chip-in on the 11th hole for birdie to haul within striking distance of Koepka.
But after laying up and leaving himself with an awkward pitch over the water to a protected green on 15, Day made bad contact and watched the ball fall helplessly into the hazard.
“I just hit it completely fat, unfortunately,” Day said. “I felt like the swing itself was good if I just hit it clean.”
Asked about closing the gap to Koepka, Day said: “Shoot, seven shots is a long way. But there’s still 36 holes to go. I’m just going to not even focus on that, just got to focus on just hitting the best shot I can at the time and then add them up after the next few days.”
Play was suspended mid-way through the second round after a lightning strike.
More to come
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