Jason Day, the 2011 Masters runner up, appeared caught off guard Tuesday when he learned he will be playing with Tiger Woods the first two days at Augusta National.
Anytime that happens, you are sure to get a candid reaction. Day certainly provided that with a comical response.
“Who me? I had no idea,” Day said. “That’s exciting. I’m happy about that. That’s a good pairing. I had no idea. As long as I beat that old man, I’m happy.”
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25384030/2148060723.jpg)
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Of course, Woods is not your typical 48-year-old playing in the Masters.
He is a five-time Green Jacket winner and 15-time major champion. Woods will be looking to make history, having made the cut 23 consecutive times at The Masters. That is tied with Gary Player and Fred Couples for the most ever.
Fred Couples played nine holes of practice with the legend Tuesday and came away impressed.
“I think the last thing he’s thinking about is making the cut,” Couples said Tuesday.
“Can he win here? I just watched him play nine holes, and nine holes are only nine holes on a Tuesday, but he never mishits a shot. But the idea of making a cut—I think he would laugh at that because he’s not here to do that; he’s here to win. He’s here to play really, really hard.”
Needless to say, Day will have to bring his A game if he wants to beat out Woods into the weekend.
Day enters the week having had a solid start to his year.
He finished 10th at The Sentry, the first Signature Event of the 2024 PGA Tour season. He later posted back-to-back top-10s at The Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
However, he has fallen off a bit in recent weeks, going 35th, 36th and MC at the Arnold Palmer, Players and Houston Open respectively.
Meanwhile, Woods, who was forced to withdraw from his Genesis Invitational due to illness, is kicking off his play-once-a-month approach this week at Augusta. They will join Max Homa on the first tee Thursday at 1:24pm ET.
Who do you think performs better the first two days, Day or Woods? Let us know in the comments below.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social media platforms.
