Jason Day begins third round at US Open 24 hours after vertigo attack
Last Updated: 21/06/15 4:08am
Jason Day was passed fit to start the third round at the US Open barely 24 hours after collapsing following an attack of vertigo on day two.
Day did not appear to be 100 per cent recovered from his huge scare towards the end of his second round, but he opened his third by drilling a superb opening drive straight down the middle of the fairway before gingerly bending down to retrieve his tee.
The Australian was treated for several minutes on Friday having bunkered his tee shot to the downhill, par-three ninth at Chambers Bay, and he was walking towards the green before dramatically falling to the turf after complaining of dizziness.
Paramedics were quickly on the scene and attended to the stricken Day, who was heard explaining that he had been suffering from vertigo "for a while". He was able to complete the hole despite being clearly unsteady on his feet, although he was unable to save par from 10 feet following a superb bunker escape given the circumstances.
His agent Bud Martin later released a statement which read: "Jason was diagnosed to have suffered from Benign Positional Vertigo. He was treated locally by Dr Robert Stoecker and Dr Charles Souliere and is resting comfortably.
"His condition is being monitored closely and he is hopeful he will be able to compete this weekend in the final rounds of the US Open. He wants to thank all who treated him at the Franciscan Medical Group and thank all of the fans and friends who have reached out to he and his family."
Day's wife Ellie tweeted on Saturday morning that the world No 10 would "give it a go" over the weekend and thanked his fans for the messages of support.
Numerous tests
Day withdrew before the start of the AT&T Byron Nelson three weeks ago due to severe dizziness and revealed on Tuesday he had undergone numerous tests to try to identify the cause.
"I had three sleep studies done. I had a lot of blood tests done. I had an MRI on my head and my neck and everything came back negative," Day said earlier this week.
"So I have no idea what that was, other than I just may have been exhausted. I was training so hard, I was doing two-a-days every day coming into tournaments and then on top of it I was doing practice, playing competitive golf and then trying to balance that with family as well."
His playing partner Jordan Spieth, who carded a 67 to set the early clubhouse target on five under, pleaded with spectators not to take pictures as Day lay on the ground and later said: "I was walking with him, just turned around and he was on the ground. I think he had a dizzy moment and slipped. He could barely even walk when he stood up.
"He did not say much about it, we just went about our business and cleared the scene and the cameras to make sure he could get what he needed."
Justin Rose was also in the group with Day and added: "It took a second or two to realise what was happening. At first I thought he might have just rolled his ankle but then when I saw his caddie with a towel round him, I realised it was something else.
"I knew he'd been having some health issues recently and then that's when your mind starts racing a little bit. When I saw the medics come over and his wife, Ellie, was clearly quite distressed, it was obvious it was something fairly serious.
"I guess it's the fear of the unknown a little bit, when you hurt your arm or your leg you can deal with it, but it's a bit scarier when you maybe don't know what the issue is. So obviously I hope he's okay and can continue tomorrow, because he's right in this tournament."
