How Jason Day overcame the obstacle ‘between the ears’

Stories of interest you might have missed…

“Two wins in seven years on the PGA Tour doesn't compute for a player with the talent and work ethic of Jason Day,” Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press writes in this story on how Day found the missing piece. “It was simple enough to attribute his slow start to injuries, and that would be accurate with one stipulation. It wasn't all physical. The most fragile part of his body might have been between the ears.”

Steve Duplantis was a veteran PGA Tour caddie and free spirit who seven years ago, stumbled off a center median, was hit by a car and died. He left behind a seven-year-old daughter, Sierra, with only a surrogate mother. Jim Moriarty at PGATour.com has the story of how the PGA Tour, notably Jim Furyk, rallied to assist Sierra, who as a result now is a sophomore at Clemson and an aspiring attorney.

Peter Dawson’s reign as chief executive of the Royal & Ancient ends in two weeks, and in this story by Martin Dempster of the Scotsman recalls being an eyewitness to one of the great shots in history, Tiger Woods’ holed pitch from behind the 16th green en route to winning the Masters in 2005. “I was the nearest person to him in the world when he hit that shot. I was the rules official for that hole and had to move my chair when the ball was in the air,” he said. “He [Woods] had a picture behind his desk of the crowd going absolutely berserk and one person, standing deadpan, watching this thing unfold. So he sent it to me and with a note that said ‘get a little excited in future.’”

Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski is better known as an ESPN analyst, but he also is head of Ron Jaworski Golf, a thriving business that owns six golf courses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Dan Greene of Fortune magazine profiles Jaworski, his passion for golf and his acumen for the business of golf.

Thirty years ago, Europe won the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1957. Derek Lawrenson of the Daily Mail talked to six players and the captain from the European team for this story. Spaniard Manuel Pinero, who defeated Lanny Wadkins in singles, called it “the day the European Tour took off.” Captain Tony Jacklin said, “It was Bernhard Langer who brought it home to me what we’d achieved. He pointed out the last time we’d won was the year he was born, and he was then 28.”