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4 months ago
27
Jason Day had been hoping to make just a short hop from Scotland to Paris to start preparing for his Olympic bid - but Australia's No.1-ranked golfer decided family must come first.
So after finishing his impressive week at the British Open at Royal Troon where he finished joint-13th, Day decided instead to make the 14-hour flight back home to his Ohio home in the US to spend a bit of time with his wife and five kids.
Describing the trans-Atlantic break as 'unfortunate' with the Olympic golf tournament just 10 days away, Day was still keen to express how much he was looking forward to finally making his long-awaited Games debut.
The 36-year-old former world No.1 gave up his chance to play the 2016 event in Rio de Janeiro, when golf made its return to the programme after 112 years.
He was concerned about contracting the then-rife Zika virus that might pose potential risks to his wife Ellie's future pregnancies.
'Yeah, I'm going back to Ohio. I wish I could stay over here, but three weeks on the road without seeing the family is a little difficult,' Day explained during the Troon Championship.
'I've got to go home, which is unfortunate, but that's part and parcel of it.
'But once this week has happened, I'm going to start getting pretty excited about it.'
Aussie golfer Jason Day was only a short flight away from Paris when he bowed out of the British Open (pictured) just days ago - but chose to journey 6000km back home instead
The 36-year-old - who is currently ranked 31st in the world by the PGA - was desperate to get home to Ohio in the USA to spend time with his wife Ellie and their kids (pictured)
The former PGA champ is grateful for a second opportunity to go for gold after his withdrawal from Brazil a decade ago.
'One of my goals was to get in the Olympic team. I've never done it before. I had an opportunity and kind of wish I did end up going in the end [back in 2016],' reflected Day.
'I was one or two in the world going into that week, going into the Olympics, and had a legitimate chance, obviously, with the way I was playing.
'Now I can get home, start preparing for Paris. I've never played the golf course (at Le Golf National). I've heard it's pretty lush and heavy. Got to really hit your golf ball well there.
'But to be honest, I feel like my game is kind of moving in the right direction. There's a lot of good positive things moving out of this week going into Paris.'
Day is eager to make up for missing the 2016 Olympics, when he would have gone into the Games ranked 'one or two in the world'
He will be playing in the green-and-gold alongside Min Woo Lee, who failed to make the cut at Troon but who is rated by Day as being the man most likely to become the next Australian world No.1.
'He's an amazing player,' said world No.31 Day, of the player who's five places behind him in the rankings.
'I met him when he was a young junior player a while back and I've always kind of kept up with his career, especially when he played on the European tour.
'Hits it a long way, has a tremendous short game, and he's a good putter. Once he starts to develop all the other parts of his game, I'd say he's our next best Australian player to try and get to No.1 just because of the talent.'
English (US)