Jason Day puts putter from five win season back in the bag before THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES
2 Min Read
Jason Day used the black TaylorMade Spider during the 2015 season when he won five times
Jason Day is hoping an old friend can help him return to the winner’s circle.
Day, who hasn’t won since May 2018, put the black TaylorMade Spider putter that he used during his big 2015 season back in the bag for his first event of the new season.
He used it to shoot 66 on Thursday at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Day sits alone in third place, two strokes behind leader Byeong Hun An.
“(I’m) trying to get some memories back from 2015,” Day said. “I won quite a few tournaments with that putter, so to have the black putter in the bag was nice, to be able to look down and see that.”
Day went winless last season and finished 54th in the FedExCup, missing the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2012. He also finished ninth in the International Team’s points standings, and will need a captain’s pick from Ernie Els to participate in this year’s Presidents Cup.
Day had his best season in 2015. He won five times, including the PGA Championship and two FedExCup Playoffs events, to finish a career-best third in the FedExCup standings. He reached No. 1 in the world ranking after winning the BMW Championship for his fourth win in six starts.
The putter is a TaylorMade Ghost Spider IB Black Prototype. Day also has used red and white versions of the mallet putter. He used the red version in 2016, including in his win at THE PLAYERS. He used the white version in his previous start, at the BMW Championship.
Day finished 30th in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2019 after ranking second the previous season. He was sixth in that statistic in 2015. In 2016, he had the highest single-season mark in that statistic’s history.
Day hit 14 greens on Thursday and averaged 1.64 putts per green in regulation, ranking 13th in that category. He made six birdies and no bogeys.
“I think overall, I had the driver, the irons and the putter working, which was nice,” he said. “Today the wind was down, so you needed to take advantage of the benign conditions. Fortunately, I was able to do that.”
Sean Martin manages PGATOUR.COM’s staff of writers as the Lead, Editorial. He covered all levels of competitive golf at Golfweek Magazine for seven years, including tournaments on four continents, before coming to the PGA TOUR in 2013. Follow Sean Martin on Twitter.