THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After signing for a four-over-par 76 at Sherwood Country Club on Thursday, Jason Day plunged into a funereal assembly that warmed his heart.
“God bless you, Jason,” said one man.
“My thoughts are with you,” said another.
The autograph seekers at the World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, jockeyed for position to console Day for reasons having nothing to do with his score, which left him nine strokes behind the front-running Zach Johnson.
Day’s maternal grandmother, an uncle and six cousins were among the thousands who died last month in Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Day, 27, whose mother, Dening, immigrated to Australia roughly three years before he was born, was in Nevada preparing for the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge when he received the terrible news. His cousins in the Philippines confirmed the deaths on Facebook.
Day, who posted three top-eight finishes in the majors this year, including a tie for second at the United States Open, gutted out a tie for third in the nine-person field. “I was on the course,” he said, “but my mind was elsewhere, and I didn’t really play that well during it.”
From there, Day traveled to his homeland, where he won the World Cup in front of his mother and sister. It was his first title since the 2010 Byron Nelson Classic. “I don’t know how I did that,” he said.
The World Challenge is Day’s fourth tournament in four weeks, and his tank is empty.
“I am a little bit tired,” Day said, adding: “It’s been a long four weeks on the road. It’s just been almost to the point where I’m just ready to get some rest.”
Day, who lives with his wife and son in Ohio, arrived from Australia on Monday night. His only preparation for the tournament was Wednesday’s pro-am. It never occurred to him, he said, to back out of the event.
“I committed awhile back,” he said. “I can just suck it up for another week, right?”
He added: “I’m still going to try to gut it out. It’s a little tough. I’ve got to go out there and play better.”
Day’s mother and sister traveled to the Philippines to visit their relatives, but Day never accompanied them. He was always playing golf.
“I wish I made it over there just to see everyone,” Day said, his voice growing thick. “But we do have a lot of family still over there. I just wish, you know, I’d had time.”
He worries about his relatives who are sleeping in tents, with no electricity or running water. He worries more about his mother.
“She doesn’t say a lot,” Day said. “She doesn’t really show emotion too much, so it’s hard to really know how she’s doing.”
He added: “I’ve seen her cry a few times. But when she starts to cry, she walks away. She doesn’t want people to see her like that.”
Day said that his mother was keen to return to the Philippines to be with the surviving members of her family, but that the health risks and logistics were preventing her from making the trip.
K. J. Choi of South Korea donated his $100,000 winnings from the World Cup to the typhoon relief effort, and Day has also pledged to provide financial assistance.
“Right now, because I’m on the road, it’s kind of hard to sit down and do something,” he said. “Obviously, it’s kind of hard for me to think about stuff like that and play golf, but my wife is sorting all that stuff out.”
But first priorities first. “I also want to help my family out over there,” he said. “They have no home now. It’s tough.”
As Day made his way through the line of autograph seekers between the scoring tent and the clubhouse, the fans lifted his spirits with their well wishes.
“It’s been nice to see the response back home and here,” Day said. He was about to say something else when a fan said, “God bless you, Jason.”
Day replied: “Yeah, thanks, mate. Cheers.”
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