05 April 2023 , 20:00
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Tom Brady ’s Super Bowl -winning antics in his 40s has inspired former golf world number one Jason Day to keep going until he’s 50.
Day, 35, is hoping to climb back to the top of the golf mountain again in 2023, starting with a strong showing at the Masters this week. The Aussie hasn’t had the best of luck with injuries having reached No.1 in the world in 2015.
He also suffered family tragedy with his mum dying of lung cancer last year, which took a toll on his belief to keep on playing golf. A back injury saw Day miss last year’s Masters, which he has admitted he didn’t watch “out of sheer disappointment”.
Day’s humblingly recent poor results coupled with inspiration from age-defying NFL legend Brady, who won a Super Bowl at 43 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021, has the 2015 PGA Championship winner relishing the chance to stage a comeback.
"For him to be at that young age of 45 and be competitive in the NFL, it's remarkable, a true testament to his ability," Day said. "And then the mental ability he has.
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"For the longest time I said I'll get to 40 and think about retiring. I feel like I can play to 50 now, which is great, and would be nice to get another 15 years out of my career and see what this second half of my career could unfold."
"I'm more excited by the journey and trying to get back there. When I got to number one, I thought I would feel a little bit different and didn't really change too much. It was sacrifice everything. It came from a very hard place. Forget about how your body feels, just kind of force it in there.
Jason Day is competing at the Masters having missed it last year through injury (Getty)"This time around, I'm learning more about what I need to do to keep myself healthy... I'm enjoying the journey and I'm learning each and every day, and I've actually got a lot of love and passion for it."
Day is heading into the Masters with a rebuilt swing to alleviate back strain and prolong his career. Instructor Chris Como has been the man pursuing Day to make the change. He also has five top-10 finishes in his past six PGA starts.
A slump down to 175th in the world rankings was also recovered to 35th. "To be back here this year is very special," Day said. "I didn't watch much (last year) out of the sheer disappointment that I wasn't able to compete. It hurt my confidence a lot, so I've been trying to work my way back."
"You feel invincible, like it's never going to leave and you're going to be on top of the world for a long time," said Day, whose most recent PGA event win came in 2018 at Quail Hollow. "All of a sudden you get injured and that mountain can be very jagged if you fall down it."