David Howell column: Day oozed confidence and boy he hits it hard!

68, 67, 66, 67, twenty under par, Jason Day you deserve your victory. Having knocked on the door for three years now at the majors the young Aussie finally stormed through and took his first major title.

Not bad with the world’s best player breathing down your neck. That accolade now rests on Jordan Spieth’s shoulders of course after another heroic performance. I’m not a stats kind of guy but did either Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods put together a whole season of major performances such as this one? Worst finish fourth, one shot out of a playoff, quite simply an amazing year’s golf. He’s number one and deservedly so, as Rory so graciously put it.

I practiced next to the champion Day on Wednesday afternoon and two things struck me straight away. First, he was oozing confidence, he was chirpy, carefree and totally enjoying himself and he seemed anything but burdened by the quest for his first major. My reading of his menatality was that he was relishing the challenge ahead from that half an hour on the range.

The second thing I noticed was that man, he hits it hard. And I mean a proper welt, but done with technical brilliance. Put those three things together – power, technique and complete confidence – and you are looking right at a potential champion. And so it proved.

The canvas for his particular style of artistry was Whistling Straits and it ran out a winner in my eyes once again. It’s a very straightforward test of golf, just as long as you play well that is. Where it is clever is how it’s aim is to punish a bad shot, whilst giving you plenty of room to hit a good one, but making you think that there isn’t.

It’s a visually intimidating course but it’s not tricky, the fairways are generous enough, the greens are big and the surfaces pure. Put the best players in the world on it and birdies will indeed come their way.

In that sense it is much like a British links course, it’s difficulty is dependant on the wind. Only on Thursday afternoon did the course bear its teeth to any real degree and if Jason Day had any luck then playing on Thursday morning was it as the course played two to three shots harder in the afternoon and his margin of victory was three shots over Spieth, who you guessed it, played in the wind on the opening day.

But there you have it; it’s almost impossible to win if the draw goes against you as the margins are always so fine. To win any championship you need a little luck on your side, to win a major you need that and to play the lights out. But isn’t it great to see someone winning a major by playing their best golf right until the end. This was golf of the highest quality and it really did feel like the generational shift had completed its change.

Let’s face it, should Woods or Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood or Luke Donald win a major anytime soon it would go down a storm, of course it would –  but it would also seem more of a surprise than Dustin Johnson or Ricky Fowler picking one up to join the new brigade of golfing stars. It’s one of the great things about golf in my book, the oldies verses the youngsters, but right now youth seems to be trumping experience. In a world facing up to the fact that Tiger is lost, for the time being at least, the new crop of players will do the game proud.

Once again Justin Rose proved to be our best player in this major and were it not for Rory being so extra special we would all, as a nation be talking up about the brilliance of Rose. Rory has yet to prove his longevity, of course like anyone I too think only injury can scupper his quest to become Britain’s all time best, but Rosy has already surpassed Sir Nick’s number of victories in the states, and looks like he is ready to roll on and on with a career that he looked both destined for and almost in the same breath no chance of having. If you like your sportsmen to have earned their birth at the top table through perseverance, hard work, desire and professionalism then Justin is the man for you.

My week was a short one unfortunately and having played so hard to get into the PGA it was a case of after the lord mayors show I’m afraid. My clubs were left at Heathrow for 24 hours, and as it turns out my swing didn’t make it overt the Atlantic either.

I am proof positive that if you miss fairways at Whistling Straits it becomes a tough test of golf, the course beat me last week but I’m looking forward three weeks off before the challenge of yet another links course, Zandvoort in Holland, a cracking little course. Once again I’ll be trying to notch up a victory for the older brigade.

Tagged David Howell, Jason Day, Majors, PGA Championship, US PGA Championship, Whistling Straits