Jason Day’s career resurrection has hit a new peak, with the Queenslander officially Australia’s top-ranked golfer again as Cameron Smith’s slide continued.
Smith, who had been Australia’s No.1 since he jumped over Adam Scott after the 2021 Masters, has fallen to 23, his lowest ranking since November 2021, on the back of finishing in a tie for 17th at the Australian Open.
Day, who skipped his national open in favour of playing at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, finished 11th in the invitation-only field in Bermuda. That was enough to lift him to 19 in the world and assume the mantle of Australia’s top-ranked player again.
The former world No.1 hit a low of 159 in August 2022, as he battled swing and injury issues that threatened to end the 36-year-old’s career.
But he fought through his issues and after ending 2022 as world No.122, Day racked up an emotional 13th PGA Tour victory at the Byron Nelson Championship in May and continued his comeback by finishing in a tie for second at The Open Championship in August.
His year also included eight top-10 finishes from 24 events and had him in the running to win the Greg Norman Medal, losing out to Minjee Lee.
Smith’s slow roll down the list, due to the rejection of LIV Golf’s request for world ranking points, could yet cost him a second trip to the Olympics.
Projections have him falling below the automatic qualification line that would open the door for red-hot Australian PGA Championship winner Min Woo Lee to join his sister, Minjee, in Paris.
Min Woo gained another three places in the rankings after finishing outright third at the Australian Open to move to 35, having been, along with Smith, fitted for an Olympic uniform in the lead-up to the tournament, one of the rare times the golfing stars are available to team officials.
Day has yet to make any commitment to going to the Olympics. He withdrew from the Games in 2016 in Rio, as did Adam Scott, citing concerns over the zika virus.
He was in talks with Australian golf officials to return home this year amid his resurgence but cited the birth of his fifth child in September as a complicating factor before choosing to play in Woods’ event.
Day has not played in the Australian Open since 2017.
Lee made clear his goal was to get to the Olympics.
“I normally tend to play well when I need to make something or I need to do something to get in a tournament, so I’m really excited for that,” he said.
“That would be a true honour to play for Australia.”
The Australian places for the Paris Olympics will be decided according to the world rankings at June 17 for men and June 24 for women. The top 15 players in the world all qualify, with a maximum of two spots per country for those ranked lower to fill out the 120-player field, 60 in each of the men’s and women’s events.
AUSTRALIAN WORLD RANKINGS (inside top 100)
19 – Jason Day
23- Cameron Smith
35- Min Woo Lee
43- Cameron Davis
44 – Adam Scott
67 – Lucas Herbert
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