Jason Day: Current Number One Golfer in the World
Par Excellence
Being the acknowledged best at a profession or craft is always a tricky, precarious business. No matter how skillful or how careful, one’s time at the top is finite, and the only certainty in such excellence is that it must and will inevitably come to an end. Nowhere is this truth more pronounced than in the world of golf where the burden of perfection falls solely and publicly on the shoulders of every individual competitor. The current record for best golf player in the world falls to Tiger Woods with an astonishing 683 consecutive weeks (4.74 years) at number one. In the wake of this amazing run, several other players have come to the forefront to vie for the coveted top ranking: Adam Scott, Rory Mcllroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day. It is Jason Day who currently holds the designation of the in the number one golfer in the world—and not for the first time.
Amateur Years
Born in 1987 to Alvin and Denning Day of Beaumont, Queensland, the Australian native of Aussie and Filipino ancestry began golfing at the age of six and won his first big tournament in 2000 at the age of thirteen—just a year after losing his father, Alvin, to stomach cancer. Drawing inspiration from his idol, Tiger Woods, Day continued to improve his game culminating in victory at the 2000 Australian Masters Junior event. Day continued on in a prestigious amateur career spanning both Australia and the U.S. with wins in the Australian Boys Open and Callaway World Junior Championship (both in 2004).
Pro and No 1
Turning Pro following an NEC Master of the Amateur’s tournament in 2006, Day began playing PGA events under the sponsorship of Adidas. In 2007 Day became the youngest player to win a PGA Tour with a victory at the Legend Financial Group Classic. In 2010, he became the youngest Australian to win a PGA event at the HP Bryson Nelson Championship. Finally, in 2011, Day managed to break into the ranks of the top ten golfers in the world, ranking ninth overall, following a close match with Rory Mcllroy at the U.S. Open. 2014 saw Day jump in the ranks to number four in the world following his first win at a World Golf Championship event. 2015 proved to be a defining year for Day. After multiple successive victories, Day achieved the elusive number one spot in the World Golf rankings, losing it, however, shortly thereafter to the previous record holder, Jordan Spieth—with whom he would continue to battle throughout 2015 for the 1st place ranking, winning it twice more on September 27, 2015, and March 27, 2016, pulling ahead of his two primary competitors, McIlroy and Spieth. Fresh of the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational where he finished in 6th place, Jason Day continues his twenty-week run (his longest run to date) as current number one player. It is impossible to say how long this streak will endure; only time will tell. Twenty weeks is certainly respectable, and many former top-ranked competitors have never done better.
Beyond Golf
Putting aside his awards and accolades and moving beyond Golf, Day has carved a life for himself, his wife Ellie, and their two children (Lucy and Dash) in Westerville, Ohio. With his wife, Ellie he established and now manages the Brighter Day Foundation—an organization devoted to serving people in need and advocating for animal rights causes.
