Jason Day will easily recoup the $321 he paid for a pair of sunglasses after ending the delayed second round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters well in contention in the wind-affected event.
The Australian has bounced back well from missing the cut in his first event of 2012 at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to .
The PGA Tour based Day played the first two rounds in the company of World No. 2 Lee Westwood and finished the round one stroke clear on four under par compared to the Englishman’s 70 and a three over par tally.
Jason Day dons sun glasses during the Qatar Masters first round desert dust storm. (Photo - Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
“After the break I’ve had and having played only two days in Abu Dhabi I feel like I am more back into the groove of competition,” said Day.
“Everything is starting to roll forward. I hit a lot of good solid drives last week but just missed too many fairways and you couldn’t afford to do that in Abu Dhabi.
“So this has been a good week and it’s been a week to really test your patience and concentration and I’m pleased with how I have conducted myself.”
Day is competing in the Middle East for the first time in his career before returning to the States next week for the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
However there was the strange sight on the Doha Golf Club range on Thursday of Day, his caddy and manager wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from the sand blast of a ‘Shamal’.
But while Day found the conditions uncomfortable while practicing it was his eyes that were stinging from the sand.
So while he made his way to the practice putting green near the first tee, Day made a detour to the pro shop to purchase a pair of sun glasses.
Day paid 1,170 Qatar Rihals for the Oakley sunglasses that is the equivalent of $US 321.
“I don’t really wear sunglasses when I am playing and I haven’t worn sunglasses for a long, long time so that’s why I went into the Pro Shop to brought some,” he said.
“The dust was getting everywhere into my hair and I felt like I had dreadlocks coming off the course.
“No wonder they were providing me with so much shampoo and conditioner at the hotel.
“I’m fortunate too as I shaved my beard off for this week and lucky I did as that would have been full of dust as well.
“I was also thinking of putting on the surgical mask but I wasn’t how hard it would be to breathe.
“But it was very, very tough out there on Thursday as there was a lot of wind and an awful lot of sand in the air.
“I haven’t played in tough conditions like we had on Thursday and for the few holes we were out there on Friday since Royal St. George’s last year.
“But coming here to Doha has been a new experience for me this week as I’ve never played in dust before.”
