Jason Day nearly quit golf during a five-year period in which he struggled with vertigo, lost his mother to cancer, and failed to win on the PGA Tour. He hopes his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas in mid-May 2023 will reignite his career.
Jason Day is Irish, Australian, and Filipino
Jason Day was born on 12th November 1987 in Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia, to Alvyn and Dening. Alvyn was Irish Australian, and Dening was a Filipino who migrated to Australia in the early 1980s. The couple met while working as meat workers in Queensland.
Day’s Irish Australian father introduced him to golf. Alvyn’s death in 1999 almost derailed Day’s career as he turned to partying and drugs to deal with the grief. However, his determination to honor Alvyn’s dying wish, that Day scatter his ashes at Augusta National, kept his career on track.
Day has never approached the Masters’ officials with the idea for fear that he may put them in an awkward position. Some suggest that Day scatter the ashes without permission, as countless others have done on hallowed sporting grounds.
The golfer has family in the Philippines. Unfortunately, eight of his relatives, including his grandmother and uncle, were killed during Typhoon Haiyan in late 2013. Day released the following statement:
“I am deeply saddened to confirm that multiple members of my family lost their lives as the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. My family and I are thankful for all who have reached out with their prayers and concern. We feel devastated for all who have been affected by this horrific tragedy.”
Understandably, the tragedy hit Dening like a ton of bricks. “It’s been toughest on my mother – there’s been no communication,” Day said. “Everything got wiped out in the area around where my grandma and my relatives lived.”
Dening died from cancer in 2022. During Day’s Mother’s Day PGA Tour victory, his caddie wore a bib featuring Dening’s name. Day dedicated his first PGA Tour win in five years to his Filipino mother:
“I was in tears for a little bit there, to think about what my mom went through from 2017 on to her passing last year. It was very emotional to go through and to experience what she was going through, then I had injuries on top of all of that going on in my life.”