JORDAN Spieth has the No.1 ranking Jason Day badly wants back but the Australian PGA star is more concerned about his workaholic American rival’s welfare.
Spieth has barely taken time for a breather since winning back-to-back majors in 2015. He’s played in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Hawaii in the past three months alone.
The American star recovered from an opening-round 76 at last week’s Valspar Championship to finish tied 18th, but won’t play at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
“I’m worried about him because I don’t know if he’s playing too much and he’s doing too many things with golf and sponsor obligations that he might make ... may get burned out and go through a rut where he doesn’t want to be on the golf course for awhile,” Day said ahead of the event.
“Everyone goes through that. I’ve told a few people on my team I’m kind of worried about him because of what he’s kind of putting himself under.
“He has played a lot of golf, especially the last few years. You can look at his world ranking and how many events he’s played over the last couple years and you can see that he’s kind of wearing himself out.”
Meanwhile world No.6 Adam Scott is confident he can create history and make it three wins on the Florida Swing at Bay Hill.
Having claimed the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens and World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship in Miami in consecutive weeks, Scott returns after a week off to try to add the Orlando stop to his trophy case.
He famously coughed up a big lead in the event in 2014 to finish third and has some unfinished business at the place where he jointly holds the course record 62.
Scott became the first player since Tiger Woods (2013) to win twice in the four-event swing through the sunshine state but no player has ever won three of the events.
Adam Scott eyes off a Florida hat-trick.Source: AFP
“I don’t really know how long I can keep it up. You got to take advantage of it while it’s there, that’s the big thing and obviously I feel confident I can play well this week,” Scott said. “Nothing feels any different than when I left Doral (Miami) and I’d like to get myself in that position to win again this week and keep it running.
“Tiger (Woods) kept running for about ten years. Maybe I’ve got a couple more weeks in me.” The last player to win in three consecutive starts was Rory McIlroy in 2014 when he claimed the British Open, WGC Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in a stunning burst.
Aaron Baddeley, Marc Leishman, teenager Ryan Ruffels and Matt Jones, who was third last year, join Scott and Day in the field.
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