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Jason Day returns from injury at SBS Tournament of Champions

By Sky Sports Golf

Wednesday 4 January 2017 12:35, UK

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 22: Jason Day of Australia hits his tee shot on the second hole during the first round of the TOUR Championship By Coca-Cola at Ea
Image: Jason Day will return to action in Hawaii this week

Jason Day is “cautiously optimistic” about avoiding a repeat of his injury-plagued 2016 when he returns to action at this week’s SBS Tournament of Champions.

The world No 1 makes his first appearance since withdrawing mid-tournament from September's season-ending Tour Championship, just as he had done a fortnight earlier at the BMW Championship.

Day has worked on shortening his backswing during his three-and-a-half months off the course in a bid to alleviate pressure on his back, and believes he is making progress ahead of his comeback in Hawaii. 

"I feel better about my body, feel better about my game, feel better about my swing," Day said at a pre-tournament press conference. "I feel better mentally than I did the second half of last year, so I'm hoping for very good things this year."

Day pulled his drive into the water at the eighth before calling a halt
Image: Day posted 10 worldwide top-10s from his 20 starts in 2016

"I'm doing everything I possibly can. It's not like I'm not trying to do everything I can.

 "The three months was a long time to have off, especially from golf. There was a little bit of rust earlier on last week when I was practicing, but I feel pretty good about how things are now.

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"I'm not saying that I'm obviously clear and I'm out of the woods, but I'm definitely cautiously optimistic about how things are progressing."

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Day followed back-to-back titles in 2016 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Match Play with victory at the Players Championship, but failed to add to his tally of victories during the second half of the year.

NORTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 02: Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day of Australia wait on the 14th tee during the first round of the Deutsche Bank Champi
Image: Reed (L), Johnson (C) also feature in the field with Day this week

The Australian has seen his cushion at the top of the world rankings drop to less than 1.08 as a result, with Day wary of the challenge he is likely to face from Rory McIlroy and the others below him in the standings.

"Obviously the goal is always to try and better the year prior," Day added. "So anything more than three wins would be great, but obviously I've got to just stay addicted to the process of trying to get better.

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"It's great to see that you finished No 1 at the end of the year, but I'd like to go a full year, not just go half a year and get to it and finish at No 1.

"I know what I need to do. I just need to keep working hard and practicing, and hopefully the results come with the process."

Watch the SBS Tournament of Champions throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 11pm.

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