Day Wins Skins, Challenges for the Future

Jason Day and Tiger Woods share a joke during the Japanese Skins game. Image: Getty

Jason Day won the lucrative Japanese Skins game in a hot field this week, but the bigger question about his form is to come in the coming days.

Day birled the 18th hole and placed himself at the top of the TV game against Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama at Narashino Country Club outside of Tokyo.

He grabbed $ US210,000 for the problems, made a six-iron greenside fall up and down when the players took on a one-club challenge on the par-five 17 and generally played pretty well.

The four days of the Toto Championship at the same location, the first ever American PGA Tour event ever held in Japan, will probably show whether he was chosen by Ernie Els as captain & # 39; s selection in the international presidential team Cup at Royal Melbourne in December.

Els has four discretionary choices and is not blessed with the kind of depth Tiger Woods has as a leader on the American side, so chances are that Day will be on the team for Royal Melbourne from December 12-15.

But after a quiet year and no profit since May 2018, Els would undoubtedly want to see some improvement over the former world number 1. There is also the less-than-great Presidential Cup record of Day, which is 4-8- 3 of 14 matches during three matches of the team event.

"It was fun. It's nice to beat the player's caliber that I did today," Day said afterwards. “It was nice to be able to make a number of putts in the piece, and to be able to take some good photos. The short game really appeared today and that is usually my strength of my game. "

Then there is the issue of Woods, who played well enough in the skins game to earn $ 60,000, but hit only 10 greens in his return to golf after a left knee operation.

“I didn't play well in the beginning. I have taken a lot of bad photos & have not put well, & # 39; said Woods. “Once I got into the stream of competition and feeling the round, it just became exciting. We were competitive, the chatter was great, the back and forth. "

Woods also plays the Zozo event, where he will learn for himself whether he can play in Royal Melbourne. He is generally optimistic.

"This is my, what, fifth operation, so I understand what it takes to get back," said Woods. “It was nice to have it moving again and not to have it caught and locked up as it was. It's just wear and tear over the years. It has been stressed for a long time and it is nice to tidy it up.

"I am excited about this end-of-year run where I feel much fitter and do not have the pain that I have had to deal with in the last few years."