Jason Day’s Bold Masters Statement After Career-Best Recovery

Day breaks down his brilliant round | 03:15

Jason Day isn’t sure if Augusta National will approve his “bold” outfit choices for the Masters, but the Australian was making a statement of a different kind at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday.

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LEADERBOARD: Aussie Jason Day in contention after Round 2

Day rebounded from a poor opening day in Orlando with a stunning 64 in round two to storm into contention, now sitting tied for fifth and just four shots back from leader Shane Lowry.

It was a career-low score in 41 rounds at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for Day, who also became the first player to shoot 64 or better at Bay Hill since Keegan Bradley in 2021.

It was also his lowest score since the opening round of The American Express in January, when he recorded an 8-under 64 at La Quinta Country Club.

Day made a fast start in the second round with a birdie at the par-5 fourth, adding an eagle at the par-5 sixth and then another birdie at the eighth before rattling off three in a row from the 11th.

“It was a lot easier than yesterday,” Day said.

“We were in the morning and we had gusts of like 34 miles an hour, and it was like 50 degrees. So, the ball was going nowhere and it was hard. I shot four over, so I bested that by 12 today.”

Day added that the improvement in his drives was particularly “key” after a “horrific” opening round in that respect, while revealing he made some setup changes to his putting with his coach Cole Swatton.

“I’m not saying that, Hey, I’m going to go back to 2015, 2016 putting, but some of the stuff that I was doing I was a little cramped, eyes too far over the ball,” he said.

“I’ve always been a person that has had my eyes on the inside of the ball, like a long way. Just some head, a head position change. A little bit further away. Hands, arms up a little bit higher so the shoulders can pitch a lot better or swing a little bit better.

“Speed has improved dramatically since then, stroke’s improved dramatically.”

Meanwhile, Day revealed before the second round of action that he wasn’t too confident of having his planned outfits for next month’s Masters approved.

Day was asked to remove his “busy” sweater vest during last year’s event at Augusta National and said Malbon had some “bold” designs in mind for the 2025 edition.

“So, we have to get clearance on the scripting this year,” Day told Johnston on the BeyondTheClubhouse podcast.

“To Malbon’s credit, they’ve got some bold stuff, but I’m not sure it will pass. So, we’ll see how it goes.

“Hopefully, they’ll say yes, and if not, we’ll be going back to the drawing board and coming up with something different.”

Elsewhere, while Day enjoyed a strong second round at Bay Hill it wasn’t good news for fellow Australian Cam Davis, who entered Saturday in a tie for sixth.

He failed to make the cut mark after finishing the day six over, with a quadruple bogey on the iconic sixth hole his biggest stumbling block.

All up, Davis finished the day with four more bogeys and a double bogey alongside one birdie.

Min Woo Lee also missed the cut, leaving Adam Scott (T33, +3) as the only other Australian still in contention.

Topping the leaderboard after the second round was a relaxed Shane Lowry, who fired a five-under-par 67 to open up a two-shot lead at the halfway stage.

The 37-year-old Irishman reeled off six birdies and one bogey to head into the weekend at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge on eight under through 36 holes.

Lowry had advanced up the leaderboard after making five birdies in the opening 13 holes before a lone bogey on the 16th — a hole he had eagled in the first round.

But he recovered that dropped shot with a birdie on the last, coolly rolling in a 17ft putt from just off the green.

Lowry might have been forced to share the lead had it not been for a late collapse from Wyndham Clark, the first round leader.

Clark looked poised to head into the weekend at the top of the leaderboard but stumbled with a double-bogey six on the 15th after hitting his tee shot out-of-bounds.

A birdie on 16 clawed back one of those shots, but a further bogey on the 17th meant Clark had to settle for a one-under-par 71, leaving him on six under overall.

“The tough thing out here is you know you’re going to hit some bad shots — maybe a water ball or in my case an out-of-bounds ball,” Clark said afterwards.

“But the tough thing is the greens are getting so firm and pretty borderline unplayable. It’s just huge that anytime you get in trouble, to minimise the mistakes.”

Collin Morikawa and Canada’s Corey Conners are three off the lead on five under, while McIlroy, Russell Henley and Day are a further shot back on four under.

McIlroy had another frustrating day, his two-under-par 70 sprinkled with five birdies but offset by three bogeys including a five on the par-four 18th.

Max Greyserman, Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley are five off the lead on three under, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler has some ground to make up heading into the weekend after struggling to an even-par 72 that left him on one under after 36 holes.

Scheffler’s day began well with a birdie on the first, only for the wheels to come off on the par-three second with a double-bogey five.

Two more bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes left him three over for the round at the turn, but he recovered down the stretch to make three birdies on a bogey-free back nine.