“For it come after what happened last week, and to be able to hit that putt, I’m just over the moon right now”.
Day’s fast and furious finish in a four-under-par 68 gave him a 72-hole winning total of 17 under, turning his Open tears into huge cheers.
Owners of newly-released golf sim Rory McIlroy PGA Tour have been criticizing the game for a lack of courses when compared to previous titles in the PGA Tour series.
Day, who was coming off a tie for fourth at the British Open, becomes the third Australian to win the event, joining Greg Norman (1984 and 1992) and Nathan Green (2009).
McIlroy won the Open, Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in consecutive appearances last summer, his wire-to-wire victory at Hoylake meaning he needs to win the Masters at Augusta National to complete a career grand slam.
Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke suggested that meant McIlroy, who could soon be overtaken in the world rankings by Jordan Spieth, would not be back until “early next year” as he accepted an award on his fellow Northern Irishman’s behalf at the Old Course.
“It’s just a really good feeling because whenever you win an Open championship of any country you’re doing something good”, the Queenslander said.
“The mental focus that I had this week and last week and the way I’ve prepared over the last two weeks, everything that I’ve done, is exactly the make-up that I need going into future tournaments. It was back and forth all day”, said Day.
Five years on and the Australian No. 1 will be among the favourites after leading the past two majors – including the US Open in June despite battling vertigo – into the final round.
