Lately, Jason Day has been making headlines in the golf world more for his unusual attire than his play. But that was not the case in the second round of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The Australian shot an 8-under 64 on Friday, his best round in 14 starts at Bay Hill. His previous low score was a 65, which he carded during the second round of the 2016 edition, in which he finished lifting the trophy.
His performance for the day included one eagle and seven birdies. His only major complication came on the 17th hole, when he missed a nine-foot putt for par and made his only bogey of the round.
The opposite happened on the par-5 6th, where he managed to reach the green with two very risky shots, both of which he sent over the water. He then made a clean 11-foot putt for eagle.
The result moved him up 40 places on the leaderboard and he is tied for 5th on 4-under after 36 holes. A day earlier, Day had a much less relevant performance, carding a 4-over 76.
At the end of the second round, Jason Day commented on the importance of scoring well early in the round to help him focus for the rest of the day.
“It’s nice to be able to come out, get under par early, so you’re not really thinking about the cut line,” Day told the media. “No one wants to come here and miss a cut. That’s just, we’re all trying to play our best and to give myself like a good buffer after the eagle on 6, that was, I could not think about the cut line anymore and just start focusing on playing some really good shots.”
The former World No. 1 also revealed that he has recently re-started working with Collin ‘Cole’ Swatton, the coach who has trained him for periods since he was a child. Day said they met last week during his preparation for Bay Hill.
“Cole knows my game better than anyone, like I said. So for him to come in and give me a fresh set of eyes to say, ‘Hey, this is what you liked in the past, this is what you did really good, we got to manage the health of your back, but let’s try and swing it this way and see how it goes. And then also change the putting stuff. That was nice, because sometimes when you’re doing it by yourself it’s very, very difficult to come up with the right answers.”
According to golf statistician Justin Ray, Day is only the second player in the last 10 years to card 8 or more birdies/eagles in a round at Bay Hill (Bryson DeChambeau).
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