Inside the Ropes: After recent dry spell, it's a new a day for Day

Big things were expected of Jason Day this season after he finished second in both the Masters and U.S. Open in 2011, and he still has plenty of time to make it happen.

After a bit of a slow start and an injury that forced him to withdraw from the Masters, missing several weeks made Day even hungrier heading to the second half of the season.

"It fuels the hunger," said Day, who plays this week in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, which he won two years ago for his first and only PGA Tour victory. "I was so bored at home, I wanted to just get back out there and play.

"I haven't played that much this year and I'd like to be in a better spot on the money list and world rankings. But you can't play through injuries and expect to compete against the best, so I am glad I took the break. There is a good chunk of tournaments coming up, and I just have to be patient in my golf.

"That's the hardest part for me, not to force things, because I really want to go out and do well and get a win. But forcing it won't work."

Day has shown he can be a major player, and after being forced to walk off at Augusta National after seven holes in the second round because of an ankle/foot injury, he is looking forward to the last three Grand Slam events of the year.

However, there is a chance he will miss the Open Championship in July at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, because his wife, Ellie, is expecting their first child about the same time.

"It's weeks away, so I'm getting nervous but really excited," said Day, a native of Queensland, Australia, who has made a home in Columbus, Ohio. "This will be one of the best years of my life off the course because of the baby. I just want it now. I want to play with it, have fun and be a dad. I'm really excited.

"Hopefully Ellie can have it early so we can go over and play the British Open, but that's not the priority. The priority is a healthy birth, with a healthy baby and a healthy Ellie."

Day's strong play in the majors began when he tied for 10th in the 2010 PGA Championship, and he said the experience led directly to his runner-up finishes in the first two majors last year.

That's because he was playing alongside Martin Kaymer two years ago at Whistling Straits, where the German beat Bubba Watson in a playoff, and was taking notes.

"Yeah, playing with Martin that day, obviously I saw a lot of good shots and a lot of bad shots that he hit," the 24-year-old Day recalled. "He was struggling a little bit with the left-to-right winds and hitting his drives way right. He saved himself a lot with his short game.

"(But) he was in contention, and he just stuck around, stuck around, stuck around, and then everyone started falling apart behind him. He holed a nice putt on the last hole and just won the event.

"That's the thing. You don't have to do much on Sunday. You just have to keep your head in there, and if you have a bad start, then don't worry about it, just keep playing."

Nobody's calling Day the next Greg Norman just yet, but he gave the fans Down Under hope last year that he might become the first Australian to win the Masters, and not only by tying for second at Augusta with fellow Aussie Adam Scott.

Day wound up second on the PGA Tour with 10 finishes in the top 10 and earned $3,962,647, good for ninth on the money list.

"Some guys learn quicker than others, and some it takes a long time," veteran Chris DiMarco said. "Jason is a fast learner. Only Luke Donald was more consistent last year than he was. He's very confident, but he's not arrogant. It's a good combination for a golfer to have."

Day, who didn't play badly but missed the cut by one stroke last week in the Players Championship, capped off last year by returning to Australia as a member of the International team in the Presidents Cup and made a run at the Australian Open title before tying for fourth.

He's looking for more.

"I was very happy with how the year went," said Day, who had never played a professional event in his homeland. "Obviously I didn't win, but I had a lot of consistent finishes. I had ... 12 top-10s around the world. That's a very, very solid year.

" ... I've made a lot of money, which has been great. (But) I want to be known as a consistent winner on the PGA Tour. I would like to win every year. That would be a good goal of mine, if I could win every year.

"I think last year I just was a little impatient on Sunday, and that's just why I didn't kind of finish it off."

Day has had a short learning curve, so expect him to figure it out soon.

COMING UP

PGA TOUR: HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Las Colinas at the Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 on CBS.

LAST YEAR: Rookie Keegan Bradley scrambled for a par on the first playoff hole and claimed his first PGA Tour victory when Ryan Palmer hit his approach shot into the water and carded a bogey. Bradley, who three months later would win the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, finished off his final round of 2-under 68 when a birdie putt from 10 feet barely slid past the hole. Palmer, who started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Sergio Garcia and was seeking his fourth PGA victory, closed with a 72 in windy conditions but holed a six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. Garcia, who started with 66-66, played the weekend in 74-77 and slid to a tie for 20th.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: The 73rd Senior PGA Championship at the Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., May 24-27.

TV: Thursday and Friday, noon-3 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday 3-6 p.m. EDT on NBC.

LAST YEAR: Tom Watson made a bunch of history along with a three-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to turn back David Eger at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Ky. The 61-year-old Watson became the oldest player to win a major since the Senior Tour was created in 1980 and the second-oldest winner of the Senior PGA behind Jock Hutchison, who was 62 when he won in 1947. Watson, who became the third oldest winner in Champions Tour history, sank an 18-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 15th hole to take the lead, but Eger pulled even with a seven-foot birdie putt on No. 16. Eger, who closed with a 5-under-par 67, missed a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole before Watson, who shot 70, failed to convert from four feet, making the playoff necessary.

LPGA TOUR: Sybase Match Play Championship at Hamilton Far, Golf Club in Gladstone, N.J., Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday, 3-6 p.m. EDT and Sunday, 4-6 p.m., on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Suzann Pettersen holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to claim a 1-up victory over Cristie Kerr in the final, earning the first of her two LPGA Tour victories in 2011 and giving her eight titles on the circuit in her career. Kerr, who never got to take her 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, blamed the defeat on her putter after missing four times inside 10 feet, all of which would have won holes. Pettersen ended a 20-month victory drought, but it wasn't easy -- she had to beat Natalie Gulbis, Amy Hung, Stacy Lewis, No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng, No. 5 Na Yeon Choi and No. 4 Kerr before claiming the trophy. Pettersen never trailed in the final after making birdies on the second and fourth holes to take a 2-up lead, but Kerr got even with birdies at Nos. 5 and 8. The Swede took the lead for good with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 9 and was 2-up again after Kerr made a bogey at No. 14. However, Kerr pushed the match to the final hole with a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 17.