We’ve seen hundreds of professionals withdraw from an event mid-round, but rarely if ever, do we see the events that unfolded when Jason Day withdrew from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Wednesday. Playing against Pat Perez in his first match at Austin Country Club, Day was quickly down three through six holes when he suddenly called it quits. Obvious speculation ensued, but nothing could prepare those watching him in the media center attempting to explain his reasoning.
Fighting through the tears, Day found the courage to reveal that his mother, Dening, was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. Although doctors in Australia initially considered the case to be terminal and that she only had 12 months to live, Day moved his mother close to his home in Ohio where she received some second opinions. After a recent battery of tests at the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, her prognosis improved and she is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday.
“It’s been very, very emotional, as you can tell,” Day said. “I’ve already gone through it once with my dad and I know how it feels. It’s hard enough to see another one go through it.” Day’s father, Alvyn, died of stomach cancer when Jason was 12. “So as of now I’m going to try to be back there with my mom for surgery and make sure everything goes right with her.”
Our thoughts are with Jason Day as he takes some time away from golf to be with his mother: https://t.co/V33psAivDI pic.twitter.com/dkfYuj784d
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 22, 2017
The defending WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion only has played in a handful of events this year, with his most recent start being last week at Bay Hill, where again he was the defending champion. Day missed the WGC-Mexico Championship with the flu and a double ear infection. His next scheduled start is the Masters in a couple of weeks.
“Ideally this is something that, the Masters … whatever happens, happens. Whether he plays in that, I know it’s something he wants to do,” said Bud Martin, Day’s manager according to a Golf Channel report. “But anyone around here with a mother, you know she comes first. He felt that’s where he needed to be.”
We wish the Day family all of the best during this trying time.
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