KAPALUA, Hawaii – Jordan Spieth isn’t the only player with a tough act to follow.
sJason Day is coming off a monster year of his own with five victories, including his first major at the PGA Championship and a pair of FedEx Cup playoff events that gave him a brief spell at No. 1 in the world.
His goal for 2016 is more of the same. A lot more.
“I’m very motivated to get back to No. 1,” Day said Wednesday. “I’m very motivated to win as many tournaments as I can this year, and to be a more dominant player. Whether it happens or not, we’ll see at the end of the year. But I’m going to give it a good shot. I’m going to work my tail off every single day to try and achieve that.”
The first step is the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which kicks off the new year in grand style.
This is the strongest field at Kapalua in 10 years, with Spieth and Day at Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, along with Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, British Open champion Zach Johnson and defending champion Patrick Reed among the 32-man field of PGA Tour winners from the previous year.
Day, much like Spieth, wants a continuation from the previous year.
Only it might not be as easy.
While everyone in the field has played tournaments over the last few months because of the wraparound season, Day brings rust to this island paradise.
He hasn’t competed since Oct. 11 at the Presidents Cup. He has played only four holes, that was a month ago in Florida during a corporate day. He chose to stay home in Ohio as his wife gave birth to their second child, a daughter they named Lucy.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t in the news.