World number one Jason Day drew comparisons with Tiger Woods after an emphatic four-stroke victory at the $10.5 million Players Championship in Florida on Sunday.
Day was never seriously tested in the final round en route to his seventh victory in his past 17 starts, a hot streak that few other than Woods can boast in the modern era.
He began the day with a four-shot cushion, and never led by less than two strokes despite some wayward tee shots at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach.
He displayed a stellar putting touch to card 71 and finish at 15-under-par 273.
American Kevin Chappell (69) birdied two of the final three holes to claim the runner-up spot on 11-under.
Day, 28, is the fourth Australian to win the PGA Tour’s flagship event, after Steve Elkington (1991 and 1997), Greg Norman (1994) and Adam Scott (2004).
Adam Scott called Day’s recent run “Tiger-esque”.
“I try to imagine how good Tiger felt just playing about five years into his pro career having won like 50 events, and imagine how you’d feel confidence-wise,” Scott said.
“Jason must be kind of feeling something like that at the moment. That’s an incredibly nice way to walk out on the golf.”
Not everyone was quite so convinced, though: Ken Duke, who finished tied for third, said the Aussie is still a way short.
“I don’t think you can put Jason in Tiger’s league right now,” Duke said.
“Jason’s playing great. Jordan Spieth had a wonderful year last year. Tiger is Tiger. I think that’s enough said about that.”
Day himself obviously welcomed talk putting him in the same bracket as Woods, and spoke of his friendship with the 14-times major champion.
“It’s been an amazing journey for me to idolise him (Woods) as a junior growing up and now I’m good mates with him and get to pick his brain about what he did when he was dominating,” Day told reporters.
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