Back injury rules Day out of Aussie Open

Post on behalf of bet365.

Australian star Jason Day has taken the decision to withdraw from November’s Australian Open in order to continue his rehabilitation from a back injury that has plagued much of the 26-year old’s season.

Day, who spends much of his time living in Ohio in America, has admitted he feels the flight from the States back to Australia would be too much for his back to cope with at the moment. The injury forced Day to withdraw from the BMW Championship this month and Day has revealed he is now focused on getting in the best possible shape for 2015 rather than trying to rush back into action this year.

“I’m disappointed I can’t make the trip home for what I’m sure will be a great tournament but I have to give myself the best chance for an injury-free 2015. I hope to be able to make up for it in the future and try to add the national championship to my trophy case,” said the world number eight.

It’s been a mixed year for Day but one the Aussie will be keen to see the back of. While victory at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February saw Day kick off the year with a big win, a thumb problem ruled him out for much of the spring. While Day managed to make it to the Masters in April, his appearance at Augusta was his only tournament start between February and the Memorial in June. An unusual bout of vertigo saw Day pull out of the WGC-Bridgestone International, with his back problem then beginning to impact his game and force him to withdraw at Cherry Hills earlier this month.

When he has played, though, Day has had an otherwise successful year. As well as his Match Play victory, Day achieved two runner-up finishes in addition to a tie for fourth at both the U.S. Open and the Tour Championship, heading into the final stages of the season ranked eighth in the world. Taking into consideration all the stresses his body has gone through this year, Day could be forgiven for feeling as though he could wrap up his season now and still feel as though it was a relative success.

While Day will be a notable absentee from the field, the Australian Open will still boast the two current best players in the world in Rory McIlroy and home favourite Adam Scott. McIlroy came back from the brink to beat Scott at the death in last year’s tournament and both players will meet again Down Under this November. On the back of two major victories, McIlroy will head into the Australian Open as the rightful favourite in the golf odds to win the event for a second straight year. The Northern Irishman reclaimed top spot in the world rankings from Scott during the process of winning the Open and then the PGA Championship, but the Aussie hopeful will be looking to gain revenge for last year and prove he is still a challenger to McIlroy for the number one spot in the rankings.