Jason Day reveals vertigo 'really kicked my butt' at The Masters

Jason Day admits he's been battling vertigo again as he looks to emulate his Wells Fargo Championship triumph of 2018.

04 May 2023

Jason Day reveals vertigo 'really kicked my butt' at The Masters

Jason Day has revealed how vertigo ruined his chances of winning The Masters for the first time in his career last month.

Day, 35, had been playing some fantastic golf heading into golf's first major of the season with five top-10 finishes in the space of six starts.

The former World No.1 even found himself in solo second at one stage in the second round at Augusta National only for an awful finish to derail his charge.

Day, who now finds himself at 34th in the world, then had to fight vertigo over a weather-interrupted weekend at The Masters and that completely ended all hope of a second major title.

After such a bright start to the week, Day would end up finishing the week in a disappointing tie for 39th.

The vertigo got so bad that it even caused Day to withdraw from the RBC Heritage the following week.

He's since taken the last three weeks off to fully recover.

Day first suffered vertigo on the golf course at the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay, and it's steadily progressed ever since.

He has also had to battle ongoing back injuries over the past five years, which has been the biggest reason for his decline in the world rankings.

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Day has made changes to his swing though and says he is no longer feeling the effects of back strain out on the golf course, testament to his vastly improved results on the PGA Tour this season

Speaking to the media ahead of this week's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, where he won his last PGA Tour title in 2018, Day admits he's still dealing with vertigo but that he's "getting a handle on it".

Day said:

"So last round of The Masters I had vertigo, so that was obviously not fun to play in that final round. We had to finish our third round Sunday morning and then I was sitting in the caddie hut and that's when I got vertigo.

"I mean, I was supposed to play RBC, that was on the schedule to play and then pulled out because of that and had to go back and run some tests. I think it's just hard because when you feel like you're running on all cylinders, you're making a lot of birdies, you're doing a lot of good things, it's difficult when sometimes the health plays a factor. If it's a back, I understand, but I feel like I'm kind of beyond that now, which has been great because I worked really hard on it. Obviously there's this sort of thing.

"So it's just one thing after another where I just kind of have to peel it back a little bit, kind of understand a little bit more, get a little bit better. And then I am under a lot more stress this year than what I was in previous years just because of where I am week in and week out.

"I've been playing a lot better so there's obviously more stress and when you have more stress, your immune system can get compromised and for me it was just unfortunate that happened in the last round. But I've had three weeks off and I feel like I'm getting a handle on it, which is good, so it will just take some time."

Will Jason Day get back in the winners' circle on the PGA Tour this season? Do you think he's still got another major in him? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.