Jason Day says his Olympic expertise served as a reminder concerning the urgency to carry out always, as there was no prize in Paris with no top-three end.
Day, who teamed up with Min Woo Lee on the Video games, is the very best positioned of three Australians remaining within the PGA Tour Playoffs to progress to the Tour Championship and has the hearth in his stomach to even get again to world No.1.
The 36-year-old’s climb from the depths within the post-Covid 2021 and 2022 seasons has taken him to again to the world’s prime 30 – he’s at the moment 26 – and he’s set to return to the Presidents Cup crew for subsequent month’s showdown with the US.
Forward of his opening spherical of the BMW Championship in Colorado, from which the highest 30 ranked gamers will progress to the Tour Championship, Day mirrored on his Olympic marketing campaign, during which he completed in a tie for ninth, and the back-to-basics mentality it introduced out in him, having performed for a lot cash for thus lengthy.
“Nicely, it taught me that it’s not all the time concerning the cash that we play for as a result of we went over there, it’s one, two or three, and in case you don’t get a type of, you’re going residence,” he stated.
“I completed T9 and I’m like, congratulations, you completed T9; you don’t get something. You go residence.
“It taught me the urgency of, hey, I must go on the market and try to do one thing to win. I believe typically you may get slightly bit comfy out right here and going, yeah, prime 10 is just not too dangerous, prime 5 is just not too dangerous.
“However when you’re taking part in with some urgency, when your again is pushed in opposition to the wall and also you exit and do what you should do, that’s a stage of motivation, a stage of taking part in that I’d like to be in on a regular basis.
“It’s simply typically you simply form of get in your individual manner and also you’re like, yeah, a prime 10 is fairly good right here this week, however that’s not the mentality. You need to exit and attempt to win each single week.
“That’s form of what I received out of it. You’ve both going to complete one, two or three, or it’s not ok, and clearly it wasn’t ok.”
Day was requested concerning the money bonuses provided to medallists from different nations that might be “life-changing” for some.
However whereas Australian medallists had been additionally given a money reward by the Australian Olympic Committee, Day stated his overriding feeling was that was a bonus, not one thing anybody competed for.
“I believe being from Australia and the best way that we view the Olympics down in Australia is totally completely different to most different nations with regard to no matter they pay out,” he stated.
“The cash that they pay out is rather like slightly little bit of icing on prime of the cake as a result of on the finish of the day you’re attempting to win a medal, and as Australians that’s what we’ve all the time checked out.
“It’s like, gold, silver, bronze. Did the particular person win the medal? That’s all our essential focus.”