. TJason Day had a tree in front of him and a tiny window.
The kind of window that only a professional golfer and one of the best golfers in the world can fit around. Much less stick the ball only a few inches from the hole. It is the kind of up and down that only the best can deliver and can turn a round 180 degrees.
Jason Day probably did not need his round to flip that much, but his up-and-down early in his back nine helped him shoot a 31 on the way in and get to six under par to lead the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the first round.
The leaderboard, as it usually is, is full of big names as they were searching to stay in the hunt at this prestigious tournament.
Adam Scott leads a group of five at five under. Two-time defending champion Matt Every sits at one-under par. Rory McIlroy is at one-over par.
Day though certainly seemed encouraged by being in contention again. He has had a rough start to the year and needed a big confidence boost to get in shape for the majors.
“It would be nice to be in contention and get those competitive juices going again and get those feelings and the adrenaline rush you get when you’re in contention because it does help a lot. Just like the way I was playing going into (The Open Championship) … I won four out of the six that I played on that stretch. So, it definitely helps.
“I mean right now I’m in a good position to do that. I got the try to get myself into contention and see how I go about it. But with the first major coming up things can happen. Like you don’t have to go into a major playing great or you can go into a major playing fantastic and go the opposite way.”
As one of the big four young players in the PGA, there is always a lot riding on his play. He certainly wants to add to his trophy case after winning last year’s Open Championship.
Day hit several big putts from distance to get to six under, bouncing back from a few bogeys in his first round. That is good way to get things started.
The leaderboard though is packed and there will be plenty of opportunities for others to make their run heading into the weekend.
