Jason Day realises his dream and makes it to world number one

The one that got away, on the 18th green at the Old Course in St Andrews, provided the impetus which Jason Day required to end his major drought and, more recently, take his place at the pinnacle of golf's world rankings.

Day’s putt to enter a playoff at the Open Championship fell short, reducing him to tears of frustration at the time.

The recovery has been quite spectacular.

Day’s canter to victory at the BMW Championship on the outskirts of Chicago on Sunday earned him the world number one spot that he has coveted for so long.

With four wins from six starts, including success at the US PGA Championship, nobody can dispute Day’s status as the hottest ticket in golf.

Should he win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bounty that comes with it this coming weekend at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, Day has a case for upstaging Jordan Spieth as the golfer of this year.

Belief

“This whole summer has been a whirlwind,” Day says. “It’s kind of surreal right now just to really think about. I don’t think it will sink in until I look at the rankings and see my name on top of the list.

“I mean, all the hard work and just knowing that there was that belief in there somewhere that I could really believe in myself and understand that all this was for a good reason, just to prepare myself for moments like this.

“I’m just rolling with it. I work very hard in the off weeks just to kind of keep where my game is at right now, and the level of confidence that I’m playing with right now is the highest it’s ever been.”

No wonder. The Australian held a six-shot lead going into the final round at the BMW and duly won by the same gaping margin.

For the fifth week in a row, the honour of being the world’s number one has changed hands. That last occurred in 1997 when Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Ernie Els jousted at the top.

Goal

“It’s been very, very difficult for me to try and downplay getting to number one because I’ve really wanted to reach this goal for a very long time now,” Day says.

When he was 18, Day publicly asserted that goal, a stance which was widely portrayed as arrogant.

Nine years on, his confidence in himself has been fully endorsed.

“I’d love to say I told you so, but that wouldn’t be very nice,” says Day with a smile.

“It’s okay to dream big. It’s okay to say what you want to do. And for people that don’t respect that, then you really don’t need to give them the time, because who am I or who are they to tell you that you shouldn’t be able to do something, and to be able to sit up here today, number one in the world, looking back when I was an 18-year-old kid, very full of confidence, there’s not much I would say.

“I would still thank them because that was the fuel that lit the fire for me, especially with the dedication over these last few years because I know that a lot of people were thinking against me on that. I’m glad I accomplished it.”

Day says FedEx success would trigger debate over player of the year. His goals, though, relate to 2016 and beyond.

Majors

“I’d love to win all the majors, to get the career Grand Slam would be fantastic,” the Australian says.

“I want to win as many tournaments as I can. I’m just here for this one purpose and that’s to try and get better each and every day and try and win as much as I can, while I can.

"It's not going to last forever, so I may as well do it quickly." – (Guardian service)