Jason Day's huge call on joining LIV Golf amid $1.5m triumph alongside Lydia Ko
The Aussie golfer has shut down rumours he may move to LIV golf after taking out the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational.
After taking out his second title in 2023 at the PGA Tour's season-ending event in Florida, Jason Day shut down rumours that he was considering making the switch to LIV golf. Day teamed up with New Zealand's Lydia Ko at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational mixed teams event, winning the tournament by a single shot to take home more than $1.5 million in prize money.
Despite rumours that Day may join Jon Rahm in switching to the Saudi-backed tour, the Aussie shut down the claims, labelling the rumours as "totally false" and even went a step further as to say he struggles to watch the league. "I know there’s rumours about me going. They’re totally false. I don’t know where these rumours start," he said.
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Day is in the box seat to secure a spot for Australia at the Paris Olympics despite not confirming he will definitely go to the Games. He overtook Cameron Smith as Australia's top-ranked male golfer last week as he continues to surge up the rankings, while Smith falters as he is unable to gain ranking points playing in LIV tournaments.
Day moved up to 19th in the world rankings after finishing 11th in Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge last month. In 2023 Day broke his title drought without a PGA win in May, taking out his 14th title at the Byron Nelson, in his first win since 2018. His success was on the back of years of struggles where he has dealt with a combination of injury and swing issues.
Jason Day says he 'picked the brain' of Lydia Ko
In securing his second title of the year at the Grant Thornton Invitational, Day said he had been "picking the brains" of two-time major champion Ko while they played. Ko and Day had a two-stroke lead entering the final round and scored six birdies without a bogey on Sunday to win by one shot. Day said he felt confident throughout because he knew Ko would perform well under pressure.
"It felt like the most stress-free win because I just knew (Ko) was going to step up in the end, which was fantastic," Day said. “It’s been absolutely a treat to be able to play with her, pick her brain, see how she is under pressure because I can learn as a golfer, I can learn from many different places, and this is a perfect scenario where I can learn from Lydia who’s been a great golfer for a long time.
"I feel like I’ve improved coming out of this week personally, and I’m going to take what I asked her about her wedges moving forward, and I know that’s going to help me a lot in my game, too. Fingers crossed I have a good wedge game next year. “It’s been a tremendous week to play with Lydia, and lifelong friends now for sure."
Ko enjoyed the format of the season-ending mixed-gender tournament and wants to see more mixed competitions moving forward. "This has just been a great start for the two tours coming together and having a mixed event," Ko said. "I really hope this is something that continues for a long time."
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