3 days Ago By [email protected] (Fasika Zelealem)
Former world No. 1 golfer Jason Day has disclosed that his long-standing injury issues were the reason LIV Golf never offered him a contract. The Australian golfer has been grappling with chronic back pain for over ten years, leading him to try unconventional methods to ease his discomfort, such as inflating balloons to relieve pressure on his back.
Despite being a major champion - having bagged the PGA Championship in 2015 - and once holding the title of the sport's world number one, his injury woes were too substantial for the Saudi-backed league to propose a deal, he conceded. In an interview with Code Sports Australia , he admitted that he is content on the PGA Tour and a shift to LIV never happened because a deal was never presented. "What happened was, it was a business move to just go in and explore the potential of what would happen," the 36-year-old shared with the outlet.
"I said [to my agent], 'No worries, I'm happy with where I'm at, but it's always nice to know.' And they [LIV Golf ] said, 'We love Jason, but he's too injured; he just gets too many injuries" he then quipped: "I don't blame them," reports the Express . Since his PGA Championship triumph nearly a decade ago, he's racked up eight additional wins on the Tour, amassing 13 tournament victories in his career.
His most recent comeback to the winner's circle was last year at the AT&T Byron Nelson, which concluded his five-year wait for a win. While he hasn't clinched a tournament victory this season, his game remains strong as he's currently the world No. 36 in golf rankings.
With only three missed cuts this year, his standout moment was at The Open at Royal Troon, where he tied for 13th place. Day has voiced his hopes for unity in the sport, and it seems his wishes might be coming true with reports from The Sun about a colossal $1billion (£774,000) truce between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF. Reports suggest that PIF is set to acquire an 11% share of PGA Tour Enterprises, with LIV and Newcastle FC chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan tipped to take over as chairman.
On the topic of a possible merger, Day said: "I'm hoping we join back together because there's definitely a lot of players on the LIV tour that we miss on the PGA Tour. I've always played very central with LIV and just never really got in the politics of it all.".
