SANDWICH, England, July 12 (Reuters) - Australian Jason Day relished the challenge of working out the secrets of Royal St George’s by himself as he prepared for the British Open on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old, runnerup at the Masters and then last month’s U.S. Open, battled strong winds and rain during his first practice round for what will be his fifth major only.
“It was tough, it’s the first time I’ve had a look at it,” Day, tipped to become Australia’s first major champion since Geoff Ogilvy at the 2006 U.S. Open, told Reuters at the back of the 18th green after completing his first practice round.
“The course is very tough with the wind. I was chatting to some of the guys out there about the normal direction for the wind. I tried to get the best lines out there but wherever the wind comes from I’ll just try and play accordingly.”
Despite his inexperience on links courses, Day has resisted any temptation to seek advice from the likes of fellow-Australian Greg Norman, who won the Open at Sandwich in 1993.
Already world number eight, he has more than enough confidence in what he is doing.
“No..I’m boring!” joked the former world junior champion. “I’ve not had much preparation on the links at all really.
“I’ve always tried to work things out for myself…I’ve not asked for much advice on the range, not asked about links golf. I’ll learn it myself.
“The smart thing to do would have been to come over here early and play 18 with no one around. As it is I’ve got two days and I’ll try to make the best of it. From what I’ve seen though, this is a real tough test of golf.”
Day said Rory McIlroy was leading the new generation but believes there are many more young guns now capable of challenging for majors—himself included.
NEW BAND
“It’s a good feeling coming here and having people talk about me, it’s obviously a good thing,” he said after signing a series of autographs.
“My life has changed a bit now since the Masters and the U.S. Open. A lot more people recognise me now…obviously it’s a sign of where my golf game is going right now.”
Can he take the Claret Jug on Sunday, though?
“It’s a very thin line between winning a tournament and missing the cut, especially over here playing links golf,” Day replied. “You need a few lucky bounces here and there but I’ll try and keep myself in contention on the leaderboard and we’ll see what happens on Sunday afternoon.”
He said Sandwich was a completely different challenge to Augusta or the Congressional where he trailed in behind McIlroy.
“Here you could hit a great shot and have the ball kick into the rough….you have to stay patient and not get down on yourself because you could swing it great all day and card a terrible score,” he said.
“But it’s a great honour to be competing here. Not many guys get the chance to play in the British Open. It’s pretty special and a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.”
Along with McIlroy Day is one of the new kids on the block and believes there is a growing band of players ready to muscle the senior pros out of the way.
“I think with Tiger being hurt on the sidelines, the older guys are still performing but there are a lot of good young golfers starting to step up now which is good.
“Rory is leading that group but I think in the next three or four years we will see a lot more coming through. And hopefully I’ll be one of them.”
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire