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Neck injury forces Jason Day to withdraw while in contention on Sunday at the CJ Cup
Jason Day bumps fists with Xander Schauffele on the second hole as he withdraws Sunday due to a neck injury during the final round of The CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek.
Jeff Gross
For all the talent and PGA Tour wins Jason Day has to his credit (12, including the 2015 PGA Championship title), there remains a lingering undercurrent to his career. As hard as the former World No. 1 might try to shake it, the 32-year-old Aussie is equally well known for being injury prone, a reputation that was only amplified on Sunday at the CJ Cup.
Starting the final round at Shadow Creek Golf Club outside Las Vegas five shots back of 54-hole leader Russell Henley in a tie for sixth place after rounds of 70-70-66, Day played one hole, making a triple-bogey 7 after pulling his approach shot into the water. He then pulled his drive on the second hole and hit a second shot before being forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a neck injury.
The PGA Tour did not offer any specifics on the injury after announcing Day had pulled out of the tournament. PGATour.com writer Ben Everill did send this out on Twitter:
This was the 11th PGA Tour event that Day had officially withdrawn from in his career dating back to 2009. The last time he recorded a WD was in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he dropped out during the second round due to back issues. This was also his third withdrawal on the weekend in a PGA Tour event since 2014.
This comes after Day had played some of his best golf in years. After missing the cut in three of his first four starts when the PGA Tour resumed play in June, Day posted four straight top-seven finishes including a T-4 at the PGA Championship in August. In turn, his World Ranking moved from 63rd the first week of July, his worst showing since August 2010, to 32nd.
Day's last PGA Tour win came more than two years ago at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship.
In two starts during the 2020-’21 PGA Tour season, Day had a T-38 showing at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and a missed cut last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He is currently in the field for next week's Zozo Championship.