World Cup winning hero Jason Day will return to competition at this week’s Australian with the goal of eventually reaching Number One in the world.
The 27-year old jumped six spots to World No. 11 on the back of his two shot victory at Royal Melbourne.
Day arrived in Sydney on Monday morning to begin preparations for his first Australian Open title in two years but his first-ever appearance at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.
The Ohio-based Day reached a World Ranking high on No. 7 after finishing third in the 2011 FedEx Cup Series Deutsche Bank Championship and two months before his 24th birthday.
Jason Day looking to become World No. 1 (Photo – Anthony Powter)
“It was surprising to jump from 18 to 11 and if have a good week this week I can move inside the top-10 but being Number One in the world has always been a goal of mine since back to when I first picked up a golf club,” he said.
“I’ve always wanted to get to that No. 1 spot and my caddy and I always had a goal to get to No. 1 when we first met when I was about 12 or 13 to get there was I was 22.
“I ended up getting to No. 7 when I was aged 23 so we fell short but it’s still on my mind to get to that No. 1 spot.
“There is a lot of tough competitors I still have to get past including one in Tiger Woods but if I keep working hard and putting the dedication into my game I think the sky is the limit, as long as I stay hungry to want to get that No. 1 spot.
“The biggest thing is to actually want it because you can say it as much as you like but until you say you want it then that’s it.”
While Day has been a regular contender in the Majors in recent years last week was his first pro career victory in Australia and only his second success since breaking through in 2010 to capture the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson Colonial.
And while it’s been a break of more than three years in between victories, Day is confident the experience he gleaned last week can prove pivotal in future success.
“It’s been a long time since my first to my second professional win and while I have been a very consistent player over the last couple of years, but I just have not over the line,” he said.
“So it’s been more of a learning curve as that first win can be more like a fluke, and even though I played well at the Byron Nelson, I felt like I learnt so much more last week winning in Melbourne than I had done then I had learnt over the last three years.
“Just to know that going to sleep Saturday night I then had so much time on Sunday before tee off to think about what was going to happen Sunday afternoon.
“So to be patient with myself especially after taking that double bogey on 10, and not look back after that, and to finish the way I did was amazing.
“What I learnt last week you can’t learn that any other way than to experience it, and that was good experience for me.
“And hopefully I can take that experience into this week as I am really hungry to win again this week.”
And Day revealed his mobile phone has been inundated with congratulatory text messages since his victory in Melbourne.
“I’ve just had an absolute ton of text messages since Sunday night and while I’ve been a bit slack responding, I’ve had messages from Greg Norman, Scotty (Adam Scott), Shane Warne and a bunch of other people,” he said.
“My phone has just so busy and it’s a good feeling because if you are getting those messages you are really doing something right, and it’s great to be back in the winner’s circle.
“But then after Sunday I had a quick dinner with my mum and family. There was no celebration drinks as I was in bed at around 10pm as I was up early yesterday (MON) to be in gym to prepare for this week.
“This week is going to be huge for me and I didn’t want to waste Monday after a big night Sunday as I want to take everything this week serious, as everyone else is who is competing in Sydney this week.”
