Jason Day is back working with his boyhood swing coach Col Swatton with the aim of rediscovering his best form with the putter, a club he says he hasn’t been so comfortable with this year.
The former World No.1 may already be seeing the benefits, his second-round eight-under 64 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which included seven birdies and an eagle, showing plenty of promising signs.
"I did a lot of work on my putting last week," explained Day, who has been talking with his old coach since the start of the year. "It's hard. I struggled with that this year. Some setup changes with Col, just had him come back on board, which was nice. Some old feels there."
It was Day’s career-low score in 41 rounds at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and, although he says he’s not looking to "go back to 2015, 2016 putting", he’s excited to be back working with Swatton, who he first met at high school.
The pair enjoyed great success together as a caddie/coach combination, with Day becoming World No.1 shortly after winning his first Major title at the 2015 PGA Championship.
They stopped working with each other in 2017, and Day was being tutored by Chris Como until late last year. Now, he’s hoping the old partnership can help him rediscover his very best form.
“He knows my game better than anyone, obviously, because we've had the history there,” added Day. “He's taught me since I was 13 years old. We had a bit of a break and now we're back together, which is nice. I'm looking forward to seeing the progression of my game going forward.”
Day's last win on the PGA Tour came in May 2023, when he captured the AT&T Byron Nelson and, although the 37-year-old does have that PGA Championship to his name, he has also finished second in the other three Major Championships.
The Australian will be hoping that the work with Swatton will help see him return to winning ways.
"Things are looking really good right now," said an optimistic Day, who added: "The swing stuff is moving in the right direction where we need to, just some subtle changes there. The putting I was more concerned about than anything else.
"That's usually my strength and it hadn't felt like my strength this year so it's nice to be able to get a really good putting day in."
