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Jason Day up for tour golf marathon test

3 minute read

Australian Jason Day is preparing to play a demanding schedule of 11 tournaments in 13 weeks when the US PGA Tour resumes in June.

JASON DAY of Australia.
JASON DAY of Australia. Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Plagued by injury and illness in recent years, Jason Day is prepared to test his limits with a marathon schedule of 11 tournaments in 13 weeks when tour golf returns.

Holed up in his Ohio home, 12-time US PGA Tour winner Day is eager to return to competition but admits anxiety surrounding the covid-19 pandemic will likely linger as players get back to work.

The US tour announced last week it aims to restart the season in mid-June with a revised schedule consisting of 14 tournaments, with virus testing to be conducted on site and no fans attending at least the first four events.

"It's going to feel strange but I think it will be strange for anyone returning to what they do for a living," Day told AAP.

The tour is set to restart with the Charles Schwab Challenge from June 11-14 at Colonial CC in Texas and conclude with the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia from September 4-7.

Former world No.1 Day's planned schedule starts at Colonial CC before the RBC Heritage at South Carolina's Harbour Town course, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and then the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.

He will then take a week off before another four-event stretch that begins with the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial Tournament in Day's adopted home of Columbus, Ohio and ends with the US PGA Championship in San Francisco from August 6-9.

Day will then take another rest week before contesting all three events of the FedEx Cup play-offs series, providing he avoids elimination and advances to the BMW and Tour Championship.

It is a huge workload for Day, who has a chronic back injury which forced his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

However he believes it may be necessary in a curtailed season if he's to challenge for the FedEx Cup.

"It is a lot of golf, but I have to get things going and get some results on the board to qualify for the Tour Championship," Day said.

After the Tour Championship, a rescheduled US Open will be held at New York's famed Winged Foot course in mid-September before an extraordinary Masters at Augusta National in mid-November.

It would be somewhat eerie if the majors are held without galleries of fans but that is likely with US authorities struggling to contain the coronavirus.

"I hope we can get past this and get back to playing golf with fans and the rest of officials and volunteers who operate tournaments," Day said.

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